_ W I C A N. _

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

RIVERSIDE

Ex Libris
C. K. OGDEN

THE

LIFE

OF

WILLIAM ROSCOE.

VOL. I.

LONDON :

Printed by A. SPOTTISWOODI,
New- Street- Square.

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THE

LIFE

OF

WILLIAM ROSCOE,

BY HIS SON,

HENRY ROSCOE.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

LONDON:
PRINTED FOR T. CADELL, STRAND;

AND

W. BLACKWOOD, EDINBURGH.
1833.

PREFACE.

IN preparing the following volumes for the
press, it has been the object of the writer not
merely to detail the incidents of Mr. Roscoe's
life, but to present an enlarged view of his opi-
nions upon the many important subjects in which
he interested himself. In the performance of
this labour, Mr. Roscoe's extensive correspond-
ence has been resorted to, as the principal source
of information ; and, wherever it has been pos-
sible, the personal narrative of his life, and the
expression of his opinions, have been given in
his own words. A much more accurate and
spirited picture of both has thus been presented,
than if the writer had attempted to embody
them in language of his own. The size of
the work is, perhaps, increased by the plan
thus adopted ; but that circumstance will be
found amply compensated by the interest and

A 3

VU1 PREFACE.

to point out, for the benefit of others, the result
of those great principles by which his life was
governed. If, in making this attempt, he has
been betrayed into exaggerated representations,
the candour of the public will, it is hoped, over-
look the unintentional offence.

Respecting the success of the work, so far as
his own labours are concerned, the writer feels
no anxiety. His duty, with the exception above
mentioned, has been little more than that of
placing in order the valuable materials which
came to his hands. But he does feel anxious
that a work containing the opinions and deline-
ating the character of one whose great object
was to advance the happiness and the improve-
ment of mankind, should not fail to produce
those beneficial effects which the principles it
developes are so well calculated to ensure.

CONTENTS

OF

THE FIRST VOLUME.

CHAPTER I.
1753—1781.

Family of Mr. Roscoe — his birth — loses his mother at an
early age — his own narrative of his childhood — his
reluctance to the discipline of a school — quits school at
twelve years of age — assists his father in gardening —
is placed with a bookseller — articled to an attorney —
his attachment to reading and to poetry — imitations of
Shenstone — attention to his profession — his early friends.
— Memoir of Francis Holden — Robert Rigby — Miss
Done. — Causes which led to the formation of Mr.
Roscoe's poetical character — his early poems. — Ode on
the formation of a society for encouraging the arts of
design, &c. — Mount Pleasant. — Letter from Sir Joshua
Reynolds — smaller poems — other studies — " Christian
morality." - Page 4-

CHAP. II.

1781—1787.

Is admitted an attorney, and enters into partnership at
Liverpool — his acquaintance with Miss Jane Griffies, and
correspondence with her — his marriage with her — visits
London — his taste for collecting prints and books — his

CONTENTS.

love of art. — " Society for promoting Painting and De-
sign" established at Liverpool — his lectures there — his
first acquaintance with Fuseli — writes " The Origin of
Engraving," a poem — reference in that poem to Lorenzo
de' Medici — his collection of prints — his correspondence
with Mr. Strutt, author of the " Dictionary of Engravers"
— his contributions to that work — is elected an honorary
member of the Literary and Philosophical Society of
Manchester. - - Page 41

CHAP. III.
1787—1792.

Early opinions of Mr. Roscoe on the subject of the African
slave trade — his allusion to it in the poem of " Mount
Pleasant." — Publication of " The Wrongs of Africa" —
translated into German. — Publication of the " General
View of the African Slave Trade," his pamphlet in answer
to the Rev. Raymund Harris. — Thanks of the Abolition
Committee. — Publication of the "Inquiry into the Causes
of the Insurrection of the Negroes in the Island of St.
Domingo." - -73

CHAP. IV.

1788—1796.

Motives which led Mr. Roscoe to take a part in politics. —
Celebration of the Revolution of 1 688 — song on that
occasion. — Commencement of the French Revolution. —
Publication of the " Ode to the People of France,"
" Unfold, Father Time," " O'er the vine-cover'd hills."

— Progress of the Revolution. — Execution of the Bris-

sotines. — Letter to Lord Lansdowne Publication of

" Strictures on Mr. Burke's Two Letters." — " The Life,
Death, and wonderful Achievements of Edmund Burke."

— State of parties at Liverpool — public meeting there

CONTENTS. XI

Address written by Mr. Roscoe. — Singular proceedings.

— Publication of " Thoughts on the Causes of the present
Failures." — The Literary Society — forced to abandon
their meetings. — Letter to Lord Lansdowne. — Sonnet
by the Rev. W. Shepherd. — Visit to London. — Domestic
correspondence. — Count Rantzau — correspondence with
him and with the Countess Rantzau. — Removal of Mr.
Roscoe from the town of Liverpool. — "Inscription." —
Removal to Birchfield. - Page 99

CHAP. V.

1795.

First idea of writing the Life of Lorenzo de' Medici — want
of materials — assistance rendered by Mr. William Clarke
at Florence — progress of the work — printing of the in-
edited poems of Lorenzo — the Life sent to press. — Mr.

M'Creery Lord Orford's opinion Letter to Lord

Lansdowne. — Publication of the Life — its popularity. —
Letters from Lord Orford and Lord Bristol. — Opinions
on the work — Lord Lansdowne, Dr. Aikin, the author of
the "Pursuits of Literature" — correspondence with the
latter. — Letters from Mr. J. C. Walker and Fuseli. —
Dr. Parr's criticisms, and correspondence with him. —
Favourable reception from the periodical critics — review
by Fuseli in the Analytical Review — success of the work
abroad — opinions of the Italian scholars Fabroni and
Bandini — translation into Italian by the Cav. Mecherini,
and correspondence with him — criticism of the Abate
Andres — opinions of Morelli and Moreni — translation
into German by Sprengel — letter to him — translation
into French — republication in America. - 1 4>3

CHAP. VI.

1796—1799.

Mr. Roscoe, dissatisfied with his profession, relinquishes it.

— Letters to Mr. Ralph Eddowes — Mr. Rathbone. —

Xll CONTENTS.

Visits London — becomes a member of Gray's Inn. —
Society in London. — Letters to Dr. Currie, Mr. Rath -
bone, and Mr. Daulby. — Lord Orford's death. — Sir
Isaac Heard. — Washington's genealogy. — Return to

Liverpool Translates the " Balia" of L. Tansillo

The Duchess of Devonshire. — Sonnet to Mrs. Roscoe. —
Letter from Lord Holland. — Dr. Currie's criticism. —
Letter to Dr. Wright. — Visit to Mr. Daulby at Rydal
Mount — his death — sonnet addressed to him — lines on
his death. — Establishment of the Athenaeum at Liverpool.

— Letters to Mr. Edwards respecting Mr. Coleridge. —
Robert Burns — letters respecting him — monody on his
death — letter from Dr. Moore. — Publication of third
edition of Lorenzo de' Medici. — Letter to Dr. Parr.

Page 203

CHAR VII.

1799—1805.

Mr. Roscoe purchases Allerton Hall, and retires thither —
his projected mode of life — his studies. — Inscription —
letter to Fuseli — Change in his prospects — becomes a
partner in the bank of Messrs. Clarke — letters to Dr.
Parr and Lord Lansdowne — his studies suspended —
his opinions on political affairs — letter to Lord Holland.

— Establishment of the Botanic Garden at Liverpool —
prospectus of that institution — address delivered pre-
viously to the opening of the garden. — Letter from Dr.
Rush of Philadelphia. — Correspondence with Dr. Smith

— visit of the latter to Allerton — dedication by him of

" Exotic Botany " to Mr. Roscoe Mr. Roscoe becomes

a Fellow of the Linnean Society. — Fuseli visits Allerton —
letter from him. — Mr. Mathias — his Canzone, addressed
to Mr. Roscoe — correspondence with him. — Dr. Currie —
his friendship for Mr. Roscoe — his character and death.
— Letter to Mr. Macneil. — Death of Mr. William Clarke

— his character and correspondence with Mr. Roscoe —
lines addressed to him at Lisbon — letter on his death. —
Death of Mr. Fox. — Letter to Lord Holland. — Visit to

CONTENTS. xiii

London. — Political affairs. — Letters to Lord Holland and
Dr. Parr — visit of the latter to Allerton. - Page 24-1

CHAP. VIII.

1805.

Histories of the age of Leo X., Paulus Jovius, Fabroni. —
Collins's projected history. — Warton. — Robertson. —
Mr. Roscoe urged to undertake it. — Letters to Lord
Bristol and Lord Holland. — Motives which influenced
Mr. Roscoe. — Progress of the work. — Materials pro-
cured by Lord Holland — letter to him. — Assistance
rendered by the Italian scholars. — Mr. Johnson's offer —
correspondence with him — documents procured through
him. — Information obtained at Paris by the Rev. William
Shepherd. — Letter to Fabroni. — The progress of the
work interrupted. — Sonnet. — Letter to Dr. Smith. —
Publication of the work. — Letter to President Jefferson,
and answer. — Letter to Dr. Smith. — Letter from Mr.

J. C. Walker, and answer. — Letter from Mr. Mathias

Other opinions in favour of the work. — Sonnet by Mr.
Hayley. — Letters to Lord St. Vincent and to Dr. Parr.

— Criticisms upon the work in the Edinburgh Review —
in other publications. — Mr. Roscoe's feelings on the oc-
casion— his answer to the Edinburgh reviewers in the
preface to the second edition. — Letter to Professor
Smyth. — Prepares, but does not publish, an answer to
his critics. — Letter from Mr. Mathias. — Reception of
the work abroad — in Germany — is translated there —
is translated in Italy by Count Bossi — French translation

— American edition. — Effect of his literary labours on
the health of Mr. Roscoe. — Letters to Fuseli and Lord
Buchan. - 301

CHAP. IX.

1806-7.

Requisition to Mr. Roscoe to become a candidate for the
representation of Liverpool — commencement of the elec-

XIV CONTENTS.

tion — state of parties — his return — celebration of his
election — his speech on that occasion — leaves Liverpool
to attend his parliamentary duties — his feelings on his
change of situation — letters to Mr. Rathbone and to the
Rev. W. Shepherd. — Mrs. Roscoe joins him in London —
letter from her. — Debate on the Slave Trade, and Mr.
Roscoe's speech. — Letter to Mr. Shepherd. — Speech on
Sir S. Romilly's Bill for subjecting Real Estates to simple
Contract Debts. — Dissolution of the Ministry. — His
speech on Mr. Littleton's motion. — Speech on Mr. Whit-
bread's Bill for the Education of the Poor. — Parliamentary
patronage. — He assists in founding the African Insti-
tution — his speech on that occasion — termination of his
parliamentary career — riot on his return to Liverpool —
declines to come forward again as a candidate — his ad-
dress— address to him. — Letter from Dr. Parr. — He is
nominated without his concurrence — his address on the
conclusion of the election — address to the freemen. —
Letter to Dr. Smith, and answer. — Refuses the appoint-
ment of Deputy Lieutenant. Page 353

CHAP. X.

1808.

Mr. Roscoe's Tracts on the War. — Publication of the " Con-
siderations on the Causes, &c. of the War with France." —
Character of Mr. Pitt in that pamphlet. — The attack
upon Copenhagen. — Poem of " Copenhagen." — Letter

to Mr. Wilberforce Success of the pamphlet. — Letter

from Mr. Whitbread. — Letter to Mr. Wilberforce. — Im-
pression made by the pamphlet. — Publication of "Re-
marks on the Proposals for Peace," &c. — Letter from
Mr. Rathbone. — The pamphlet submitted to Mr. Whit-
bread — letter from him, and reply. — Mr. Roscoe's de-
fence against his critics. — Letter to Professor Smyth. —
Opinions on the pamphlet. — Letter from Mr. J. Graham.
— Letters to the Marquis of Lansdowne and to Mr. Whit-
bread. — Some of his political friends differ from Mr.
Roscoe on the subject of peace — he proposes and carries

CONTENTS. XT

a pacific address at a public meeting at Liverpool. —
Letter to Mr. Mathias. - Page 4>1 1

CHAP. XI.

1809, 1810.

Mr. Roscoe resumes his literary studies — letter to the
Rev. W. P. Greswell — meditates a Life of Dr. Currie —
assists Mr. Cromek in preparing his Relics of Burns —
writes the preface to the Gallery of British Portraits —
his enquiries into the History of Art during the middle
ages — projects a History of the Progress and Vicissitudes
of Literature and Art. — Death and character of Mr.
Rathbone. — Mr. Roscoe an active member of the African
Institution — communications to that Society — contro-
versy with Mr. George Harrison — letter to the Duke of
Gloucester. — Essay on the Right of Great Britain to
compel Foreign Nations to abolish the Slave Trade. —
Letter to the Duke of Gloucester. — Liberation of nine
negroes at Liverpool — thanks of the African Institution.
— Publication of " Occasional Tracts on the War." —
Letter to Mr. Whitbread. — Letter to Mr. Wilberforce. —
Letter from Sir Philip Francis. — Publication of " Ob-
servations on the Speech of Earl Grey." — Letter from
Mr. Whitbread. — Letter to Lord Erskine — Letter to

Dr. Aikin. — Letter from Sir S. Romilly Mr. Roscoe's

general opinions on peace. — Early writings on the sub-
ject. - - .... 4.53

THE FOLLOWING WORKS,

BY THE LATE W. ROSCOE,

ARE PUBLISHED BY

T. CADELL, 141. STRAND.

The LIFE of LORENZO DE' MEDICI, called " The Magni-
ficent." Sixth edition. 2 vols. 8vo. with Portrait. \l. 4s.

ILLUSTRATIONS, Historical and Critical, of the LIFE OF
LORENZO DE' MEDICI, called " The Magnificent." With an
Appendix of Original and other Documents. 8vo. with Engravings.
Price 14s. in hoards; or in one volume, 4to. uniform with the First
edition of the Life of Lorenzo, II. Us. 6d.

The LIFE and PONTIFICATE of LEO the TENTH. In
4 vols. 8vo. Third edition. 21. 8s. in boards.

OBSERVATIONS on PENAL JURISPRUDENCE, and the
Reformation of Criminals. 8vo. Price 9s. in boards.

ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS on PENAL JURISPRU-
DENCE, &c. &c. 8vo. Price 6s. in boards.

OBSERVATIONS on PENAL JURISPRUDENCE, and the
Reformation of Criminals. Part III. Containing further Remarks
on the Opinions of the Edinburgh Reviewers; on the Society for
Prison Discipline ; on the General Penitentiary at Milbank ; and on the
State Prisons in America : being an attempt to demonstrate the necessity
of adopting an Improved System of Criminal Jurisprudence. With an
Appendix, containing the latest Reports of the State Prisons at New
York, &c. 8vo. Price 6s. boards.

The NURSE; a Poem: translated from the Italian of LUIGI
TANSILLO. A new edition, elegantly printed in a pocket volume, with
Wood Cuts. Price 6s. in boards.

The WORKS of ALEXANDER POPE, Esq. With Notes and
Illustrations by himself and others. To which are added a New Life
of the Author, an Estimate of his Poetical Character and Writings, and
occasional Remarks, handsomely printed in ten volumes, 8vo. with
two Portraits of Pope, price 61. in boards.

A LETTER to the Rev. WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES, A.M.

Prebendary of Sarum, and former Editor of Pope's Works, in 10 vols. ;
in reply to his " Final Appeal to the Literary Public relative to Pope,"
8vo. Price 2s.

CHAPTER I.

1753—1781.

Family of Mr. Roscoe — his birth — loses his mother at an
early age — his own narrative of his childhood — his
reluctance to the discipline of a school — quits school at
twelve years of age — assists his father in gardening —
is placed "with a bookseller — articled to an attorney —
his attachment to reading and to poetry — imitations of
Shenstone — attention to his profession — his earlyfriends.
— Memoir of Francis Holden — Robert Rigby — Miss
Done. — Causes which led to the formation of Mr.
Roscoe' s poetical character — his early poems. — Ode on
the formation of a society for encouraging the arts of
design, fyc. — Mount Pleasant. — Letter from Sir Joshua
Reynolds — smaller poems — other studies — " Christian
Morality"

VOL. I.

CHAPTER I.

THE family of Mr. Roscoe, for a considerable
period before his birth, had been settled in the
central part of Lancashire, where they lived in
humble circumstances. The name, which in
other parts of the country is an uncommon one,
occurs not unfrequently in those districts.* Mr.

* No record of the family is found in the Heralds' Col-
lege, except the information furnished by Mr. Roscoe
himself, to Sir Isaac Heard, Garter Principal King at
Arms, who had expressed a wish to trace its origin. In a
letter to that gentleman, written in the year 1797, Mr. Ros-
coe says, " From all that I can learn, it appears, that whilst
other families have rolled on for centuries in distinct and
appropriate channels, mine has always been mingled in the
common mass, and has composed a part of the immense tide
that daily falls into the ocean of oblivion. The Origines
Guelficce occupy five folio volumes, whilst the origines in
question will find ample space in five lines. I shall return
the pedigree you have been so good as to sketch ; and if any
of my descendants 500 years hence should be desirous of
knowing who was their ancestor, I hope that your kindness
will not be lost, and that your records will remain to give
them the information." In a letter written about the same
time to his brother-in-law, Mr. Daulby, Mr. Roscoe says,
" Amongst my new acquaintances is Sir Isaac Heard, who
has been extremely civil to me, and is desirous of tracing the
pedigree of the noble family of the Roscoes, which has

B 2

4 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

Roscoe was the only son of William Roscoe and
Elizabeth his wife, who had also an only daugh-
ter, Margaret, afterwards the wife of Daniel
Daulby, Esq.

At the period of Mr. Roscoe's birth, his father
kept a public-house, called "The Bowling-Green,"
in the neighbourhood of Liverpool, a place much
frequented for the recreation afforded by its
garden and bowling-green. His father continued
for many years in the same business, to which
he united the cultivation of an extensive mar-
ket-garden.* He was a man below the middle
stature, but of remarkable bodily strength and
activity; of much vivacity of temperament,
and greatly attached to field-sports and other
amusements, for which his son never displayed
any taste. He lived to attain a very consider-
able age ; and two years before his death, which
took place in 1796, he was removed by Mr.
Roscoe to his own house at Birchfield, where
his latter days were soothed by the continued
attentions of his children.

hitherto, I find, baffled all his researches. I told him I was a
good patriarch, and the proper person to begin a family, as
I had six sons, &c. Accordingly, the whole descent is regis-
tered ; and the Roscoes and Daulbys may now go on in scecula
s&culorum. Amen."

* In the latter part of his life he retired to his native place,
Charnock, where he \\ as supported for many years by his
son.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 5

Mr. Roscoe's mother, a woman of superior
mind and warm affections, exercised an influ-
ence over his character, the effects of which, to
the latest period of his life, were never obliter-
ated. The grateful respect and attachment which
he bore her memory, were frequently evinced
when he referred to the period of his childhood ;
and he always dwelt with particular pleasure
on the years during which he had experienced
her watchful and affectionate care. The follow-
ing lines, written soon after her death, though
evidently a juvenile production, are interesting,
as expressive of his feelings towards her : —

" O ! best of Mothers ! Thou, whose guardian care
Sustain 'd my infant life, when, weak and faint,
I pour'd the feeble cry ! Thou, whose kind hand
Through scenes of childhood led my devious steps
Towards Virtue's arduous way, and bade my soul
With ceaseless assiduity attempt
The glorious road ! Thou, whose preserving hand
With friendly aid restrain'd my boist'rous speed
When maddening passions ruled ! To thee I owe
Health and existence ! and shalt thou not claim
One filial sigh, and bid one starting tear
Fall from my eye ? —

What splendid scenes had Hope too fondly sketch'd
Of future bliss ? But ah ! at Death's approach
The fairy colours faded, and the piece
Remain'd a gloomy void. No more I saw
In distant view, through Fancy's magic glass,
The best of Mothers, when by age oppress'd,
Beneath my roof retired, my care to tend
Her sinking frame, to raise her drooping heart,

B 3

6 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

With converse sweet — or, if deprived of sight —
To lead her where the opening roses shed
Ambrosial odours round ; and vernal gales
Breathe gently o'er the field."

Of the childhood and early life of Mr. Roscoe,
the following account is derived from a letter
addressed by him, a few months before his
death, to one of the oldest and dearest of his
friends ; in which he proposed to amuse him-
self, during those hours which sickness now
disabled him from devoting to more serious
pursuits, by tracing for the eye of his friend a
brief narrative of the principal events of his
life:-

" I was born on the 8th day of March, 1753,
at the Old Bowling-Green House, on Mount
Pleasant, one of the oldest houses yet standing
in Liverpool, and of which an excellent drawing,
by that rising artist, Austin, is engraved, and
given in the account of that town, now publish-
ing by Fisher and Co. ; but in the following
year I was removed, with my family, to the
New Bowling-Green House, on Mount Pleasant,
which my father was building at the time of my
birth, but which has since been taken down to
make way for more modern dwellings.

" Of that interval of time I know little worth
recording. Yet, when I tax my memory, I find
some circumstances which give indications of
my future character. One of these is, a decided

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 7

aversion to compulsion and restraint, insomuch
that I remember, to this day, being carried to a
schoolmistress by a servant with a rod, not with-
out violent struggling and opposition, before I
had the honour of being breeched ; and through-
out my future life, it was with great difficulty
that I was induced to submit to the restraints
and attendance necessary to acquire any share of
learning.

" This incident reminds me of the following
Address to Liberty, in the second part of * The
Wrongs of Africa:' —

« At my birth,

What though the Muses smiled not, nor distill'd

Their dews Hyblean o'er my infant couch ;

What though they scatter'd not their fading flowers ;

Yet thou wert present, thy diviner flame

Play'd round my head. Impatient of control,

My young step follow'd where thou led'st the way,

And, far as memory traces back my years,

My soul, though touch'd with human sympathies,

Revolted at oppression.'

" At six years of age, I was taken from under
the care of my good old schoolmistress, and
placed under the tuition of Mr. Martin, who
kept a daily school for boys in Paradise Street,
in the middle of Liverpool, where I improved
myself in reading English, and where I was fre-
quently admitted to the use of his little book-
case, filled with the best authors of that period.
To his care, and the instructions of a kind

B 4

8 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

and affectionate mother, I believe I may safely
attribute any good principles which may have
appeared in my conduct during my future life.
It is to her I owe the inculcation of those senti-
ments of humanity, which became a principle in
my mind. Nor did she neglect to supply me
with such books as she thought would contri-
bute to my literary improvement. Amongst
others, I still remember, with great pleasure, a
periodical work, entitled * The Library,' in prose
and verse. Many pieces of the latter descrip-
tion I committed to memory ; some of which I
retain to this day.

" After remaining about two years with Mr.
Martin, I was removed to Mr. Sykes, who kept
a school in the same house, for writing and arith-
metic, to which were added, instructions in En-
glish grammar. As he had a numerous school
of boys, I found myself here obliged to fight my
way till I had taken a certain station, and could
distinguish my superiors from my inferiors. With
respect to my new master, he was a good in-
structor in what he professed to teach, and a
kind-hearted man, although on one occasion I
incurred his severe displeasure, by having been
guilty of whipping a top, with one of my school-
fellows, a few minutes beyond the time appointed
for commencing school in the afternoon. On
this occasion, the master proposed to make an
example of us to the scholars. His mode of cor-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 9

rection was not by the shameful and indecent
method of flogging yet so prevalent in England,
but by means of a small cane, which he held in
his right hand, whilst, taking that of the culprit
in the other, he inflicted on his back a sufficient
number of strokes, which, from a powerful man
to a child, were at least an adequate punishment
for any childish offence. He ordered me up to
him, and, taking my hand, began to bestow the
usual discipline upon me. It was the common
practice of the unfortunate scholar who under-
went this disgrace, to endeavour to free himself,
as soon as the master relaxed his grasp, and to
make his escape. On the contrary, I stood im-
movable on this occasion, and patiently received
all that was administered. When, at last, the
master stopped, expecting I should retire, I stood,
without the slightest indication of emotion of
any kind, till, provoked at my contumacy, he
again seized his cane, and impressed on me such
a memorial of his ability, as remained on my
back a considerable length of time. This was
the first and the last time that I ever experi-
enced the punishment of a school, and I believe
neither my master nor myself retained afterwards
any sentiment of ill will towards each other.

" When I was twelve years of age I quitted
school, my master having reported that I had
learned all that he was capable of teaching me ;
which included a knowledge of the common

10 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

rules of arithmetic, mensuration, and algebra,
and should have included an acquaintance also
with English grammar, to which, however, I
had rather imbibed a dislike than otherwise.
The numerous occasions of leisure during this
period of my life were devoted to other employ-
ments. Adjoining to my father's property was
a considerable manufactory of British china-
ware. With the painters employed in these
works I became intimate, and frequently assisted
them in their labours, in which I was tolerably
expert. Among these was Hugh Mulligan, an
engraver of copperplates, as well as a painter,
who some years afterwards published a collection
of his own poetical compositions in a quarto
volume, some of which are not without merit.
He became a kind of Mentor to my youthful
years ; and my acquaintance with him, under
different circumstances, continued till his death,
at an advanced period of my life. I also became
a tolerable joiner, and about this period made
for myself a bookcase with folding doors, which
served me for many years, and which I filled
with several volumes of Shakspeare, a great part
of whose historical plays I committed to memory;
to these were added the Spectator and other
valuable works, which I perused with great
pleasure. One of these books I have yet in
my possession, marked with my name, on the
5th of June, 1765, when I was little more than

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 11

twelve years of age. The book referred to is,
the poems of Mrs. Catherine Philips, ' the
matchless Orinda,' a writer of the time of
Charles II., of considerable merit, who died,
amidst the admiration of her contemporaries, at
an early age, and is applauded by Cowley in
his Odes, both living and dead. Nor can it
be denied, at the present day, that her works
have in them a depth of true feeling, and a
spirit of poetry, which will keep them in re-
membrance.

" According to my best recollection, I was at
this period of my life of a wild, rambling, and
unsocial disposition ; passing many of my hours
in strolling along the shore of the river Mersey,
or in fishing, or in taking long walks alone.*
On one occasion, I determined to become a
sportsman ; and, having procured a gun, and
found an unfortunate thrush perched on the
branch of a tree, I brought him to the ground

* " Most persons," says Mr. Roscoe, in his Life of Pope,
" can relate some dangers of their youth from which they have
escaped with difficulty." He has, however, himself forgotten
to relate, in this narrative, an incident which had nearly
proved fatal to him. During one of his strolls along the
shore of the Mersey, while the tide was out, he lingered so
long, that the returning waters had closed round the bank on
which he was standing, before he perceived the danger of his
situation. Being unable to swim, his only chance of escape
was by fording the water while it was yet passable. This
he was fortunately able to accomplish, with considerable dif-
ficulty.

12 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

with fatal aim ; but I was so horrified and dis-
gusted with the agonies I saw him endure in
death, that I have never since repeated the
experiment.

" Having quitted school, and committed my
English grammar to the flames, I now began to
assist my father in his agricultural concerns,
particularly in his business of cultivating po-
tatoes for sale, of which he every year grew
several acres, and which he sold, when produced
early in the season, at very advanced prices.
His mode of cultivation was entirely by the
spade ; and, when raised early, they were con-
sidered in that part of Lancashire as a favourite
esculent. When they had attained their proper
growth, we were accustomed to carry them to
the market on our heads, in large baskets, for
sale, where I was generally intrusted with the
disposal of them, and soon became a very useful
assistant to my father. In this and other la-
borious occupations, particularly in the care of
a garden, in which I took great pleasure, I
passed several years of my life, devoting my
hours of relaxation to reading my books. This
mode of life gave health and vigour to my body,
and amusement and instruction to my mind ;
and to this day I well remember the delicious
sleep which succeeded my labours, from which
I was again called at an early hour. If I were
now asked whom I consider to be happiest of the

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 13

human race, I should answer, those who cul-
tivate the earth by their own hands.*

" Being now in my fifteenth year, I was called
upon to make choice of a profession, when my
attachment to reading induced me to prefer that
of a bookseller. I was accordingly placed with
Mr. Gore, a respectable tradesman in Liverpool ;
but, after remaining there for a month, and not
finding the attendance on a shop reconcilable
to my disposition, I quitted him, and returned
to my labours. In the following year (17^9)
I was, however, articled, for six years, to Mr.
John Eyes, jun., a young attorney and solicitor
in Liverpool; and thus entered upon an anxious

* This narrative of Mr. Roscoe's early history resembles,
in very many of its circumstances, the account he has him-
self given of the youth of Pope. The Poet left school at
the age of twelve, and went to reside with his father, who,
like Mr. Roscoe's, supported himself partly by the cultivation
of a garden. The same desultory studies, amongst which
an attachment to poetry appears pre-eminent, were pursued
by both ; and the description which Pope has given of him-
self, at this period of his life, might well be applied to the
youth of his biographer : — "I followed every where as my
fancy led me, and was like a boy gathering flowers in the
woods and fields, just as they fell in my way ; and these five
or six years I still look upon as the happiest part of my life."
(Life of Pope, p. 16.) In their aversion to compulsory in-
struction, also, they closely resembled each other. " I never
learned any thing," says Pope, " at the little schools I was
at afterwards, and never should have followed any thing that
I could not follow with pleasure." Both Pope and Mr.
Roscoe may " be properly ranked amongst that class of re-
markable persons who have been their own instructors."

14 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

and troublesome profession. I passed all the
hours I had to spare in perusing such authors
as fell in my way, among whom Shenstone was
my great favourite, till from admiring I began
to imitate him. Amongst several of these early
productions, I find I have preserved the follow-
ing verses in his praise : —

' ON MR. SHENSTONE AND HIS WRITINGS.*

O Shenstone, favourite of the Nine,
What sweetly varying powers are thine !
' Tis thou canst bid the soul to glow
With purest joy, or melt with woe ;
O'er thee bright Fancy waves her wings,
And strikes for thee the trembling strings,
And soft Simplicity combines
To warble through thine artless lines.
Far from the glitt'ring scenes of care,
Thou breathed content thy native air ;
Too good for wealth, too great for pride,
Thou lived beloved — respected died.
When first thy genuine warblings stole
With gentlest magic on my soul,
So soft, so sweet, so clear, so strong
The tide of music roll'd along,
That, quite enraptured by the strains,
Methought with thee I trod the plains,
Reclined with thee in shady bowers,
Survey'd with thee the opening flowers,
The spacious lawn, the rising hill,
The rural cot and sparkling rill ;
But soon the dear delusion fled,
And left reflection in its stead.'

* Written January, 1771.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 15

" On one occasion, my master having unex-
pectedly made his appearance in our office
intended for business, into which he seldom en-
tered, found a copy of these lines lying on the
desk, which, having read, he asked if they were
mine, and being answered in the affirmative, paid
me what I then thought a great compliment, by
observing, that I must have copied them from
some other writer. This admiration of Shen-
stone, I retained for several years, as I find by
some lines, written at a subsequent period, where,
referring to the animosity with which poets too
often regard the talents of each other, I have
said, —

' Why pour'd sweet Shenstone his enchanting lay,
Stamp'd as a trifler in the page of Gray,
Or why should Gray deserve a better fate,
Below the good, but far above the great,
While Johnson tears the laurel from his bust,
Degrades his memory, and profanes his dust? '

" Shenstone was not, however, long the sole
object of my poetical adoration ; his claims being
divided with Goldsmith, whose ' Deserted Village*
was first published about this period, and passed
through several editions. That these authors
have fallen into neglect, when compared with
the more energetic and ambitious poets of the
present day, I am well aware, and yet I know
not whether these writers are not as deserving
of estimation as those of modern times, who, in

16 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

endeavouring to become more natural, have too
often fallen into the vulgar and the mean, and,
instead of improving, have debased the public
taste."

Here, unfortunately, the manuscript abruptly
concludes. The lassitude of illness, and the un-
favourable effect produced upon Mr. Roscoe's
health by any mental exertion for the last year
or two of his life, prevented him from proceed-
ing with his projected sketch, — a circumstance
the more to be regretted, as the materials which
remain for delineating the incidents and feelings
of his youth are few and imperfect.

Absence of restraint, and perfect freedom of
thought and of action, during the early period
of life, though favourable to originality of mind,
do not always contribute to form a useful and
well-balanced character. The sequestered studies
which add strength and fervour to the poetical
temperament, and which inspire a love of intel-
lectual pleasures, too often unfit those who pur-
sue them for the irksome duties and the active
engagements of life. We, consequently, seldom
find, in the history of men of letters, that they
unite with their mental pre-eminence that capa-
city for affairs which is often possessed by persons
of meaner endowments. In youth, more espe-
cially, it is difficult to impress upon the mind
devoted to intellectual pursuits, the wisdom and
the necessity of a strict regard to the routine of

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 17

common duties, and to the active business of life.
It might have been expected, from the strong
attachment of Mr. Roscoe, at this period, to
literary studies, and especially from the culti-
vation of his poetical taste, that the graver busi-
ness of his profession would sometimes have been
neglected ; but the circumstances in which he
was placed, as well as the peculiar character of
his mind, prevented him from falling into this
dangerous error. The total dependence, not only
of himself, but of his father and his sister, upon
his future exertions, afforded a most power-
ful motive for assiduity ; while the natural
energy of his mind prevented him from remain-
ing satisfied with pursuits, however pleasant or
instructive, not leading to that independence,
which ought to be to every man the first object
of his exertions.

Throughout the whole of his clerkship, there-
fore, his literary improvement was made a second-
ary object; his great design being to acquire a
competent knowledge of his profession, and to
render himself useful to his employers. After the
death of Mr. Eyes, he served the remainder of
his clerkship with Mr. Peter Ellames, an eminent
attorney of Liverpool, to whom his industry and
talents gave great satisfaction. During the whole
of this period he resided with his father, having
had the misfortune to lose his mother some years
previously.

VOL. i. c

18 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

Notwithstanding his strict attention to busi-
ness, some hours were still left vacant, and these
were gladly devoted by him to the improvement
of his mind and to the cultivation of his taste.
In this agreeable task he was stimulated by the
sympathy and society of several friends of his own
age, with whom he passed much of his leisure
time, and in the selection of whom the character
of his own mind was clearly manifested. An
attachment to elegant literature, a love of study,
a relish for the beauties of nature, and a heart
capable of returning the warmth of friendship,
were the qualities which distinguished the early
companions of Mr. Roscoe. Of these, no one
was more loved or admired by him than Francis
Holden, of whom he has said, in recalling the su-
perior qualifications of his friend, "that he seemed
to realise in himself the accomplishments both
of body and mind which have been attributed to
the admirable Crichton."*

Francis Holden was descended from a family,
many members of which had distinguished them-
selves by their progress in scientific pursuits. At
fifteen years of age he had arrived at manhood

* The following account of Francis Holden is derived
from Mr. Roscoe's own notes. He appears to have had,
when he made them, some intention of recording the incidents
of his own early life ; but he did not persevere in his design ;
and the pages contain merely the history of that youthful
friend, whose genius and acquirements first excited his
literary ambition.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 19

in person, in manners, and in mental acquire-
ments. His figure was powerfully yet elegantly
formed ; and his strength and agility were such,
that he scarcely ever took a walk into the fields
without exhibiting, for the amusement of his com-
panions, feats of bodily dexterity which might
have extorted the applause of a crowded theatre.
To the extraordinary endowments which he
possessed, he added such a cheerful vivacity,
and so unassuming a modesty, as to relieve his
friends from the sense of inferiority which his
splendid talents and extraordinary accomplish-
ments were so well calculated to inspire. To
those who knew Francis Holden, the accounts
of Pico of Mirandola, and of Leo Battista Alberti,
ceased to appear incredible.

At a very early age he became an assistant in
the school of his uncle, Richard Holden, at
Liverpool, where he taught the mathematics, and
the Greek, Latin, French, and Italian languages.
In his extemporaneous translations his talents
were very conspicuous. So correct, elegant,
unembarrassed, and concise were his versions,
that they might, without correction, have been
committed to the press. Soon after his arrival in
Liverpool, he became accidentally acquainted
with Mr. Roscoe, who, although he was at that
time very deficient in the acquirements by which
Holden was so much distinguished, attracted
the regard and friendship of the youthful scholar.

20 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

They became, during their leisure hours, almost
inseparable companions ; and it was at the so-
licitation of his friend that Mr. Roscoe first com-
menced the study of languages, receiving from
him gratuitous instructions in French. In these
studies he made a rapid progress ; and the ca-
pacity of enjoying the same authors in the same
language became a new bond of union between
the friends.

After remaining a few years in Liverpool,
H olden removed to Glasgow, with the view of
improving himself by attending the lectures of
the professors in that University. He resided
there with the widow of his uncle, John Holden,
well known by his learned treatise on music.
" My uncle," he says in one of his letters to
Mr. Roscoe, " died the morning after I arrived.
He declared all along that he only lived to see
me. I cannot say any more. You shall hear
more of this shortly." In the midst of his
studies, which he describes as extending to
twelve hours a day, Holden found time to main-
tain a correspondence with his friend ; and his
letters, many of which still remain, are full of
the animation and intelligence which distin-
guished their writer.

Having finished his studies at Glasgow, Hol-
den accepted an offer to accompany a young
gentleman of fortune to France, where he re-
sided for some time. Upon his return to

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 21

England, he again visited Liverpool, improved
in his acquirements, but unaltered in his affec-
tions. The friend who had enjoyed the benefit
of his society, and of his instructions, had not,
in the mean time, been idle.

During the absence of Holden, Mr. Roscoe
had devoted much of his leisure to the acquisi-
tion of the dead languages, — a study which he
prosecuted in conjunction with two other friends,
Mr. William Clarke and Mr. Richard Lowndes,
with whom, to the close of their lives, he re-
mained in habits of the strictest intimacy. After
the return of Holden, the four associates were
accustomed to meet early in the morning, and
to pursue their classical studies till the hours of
business arrived. Hitherto Mr. Roscoe had
made no attempt to acquire a knowledge of the
Italian language ; and it was by Francis Holden
that his attention was first directed to the liter-
ature of that country. In their evening walks,
Holden was accustomed to repeat passages from
the most celebrated poets of Italy ; and the plea-
sure with which he recited their verses, producing
a strong impression upon the mind of Mr. Roscoe,
led him to apply himself to the study of the
Italian language ; which, however, he describes
himself as having acquired rather by slow de-
grees, and by gradual application, than by any
sudden and laborious effort. The first idea of
writing the life of Lorenzo de' Medici appears

c 3

22 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

to have occurred to him in the course of these
studies.

Having now no certain occupation, Holden
determined to engage in the study of the law j
for which purpose he went to London, and be-
came a member of or\e of the Inns of Court. In
this design he relied much upon the advice of
his friend, whose kind offices towards him he
acknowledges in the following letter : —

" MY DEAR ROSCOE,

" The day after I received your inexpressibly
kind letter, I waited upon Messrs. Lyons*, who
received me with all the marks of a sincere
friendship, and promised to do all in their power
for me — particularly to recommend me to the
gentleman you spoke of. I have heard no more of
that business as yet, but I cannot refrain from
writing to you. My time now goes on more plea-
santly. I have met with one or two Glasgow
friends, who treat me with an affection some-
thing like yours, if they did but know how to
express it, or to entertain me as well. No, my
dear Roscoe j it will never be my fate, it will
never be my wish, to meet with so faithful, so
engaging a friend. I would not learn to do
without you, for fear of inconstancy. * * * I will
make you my director in matters of law, and
will prepare myself in such a manner as to be of

* The professional agents of Mr. Roscoe.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 23

real service to him who will please to employ
me ; for nothing is more oppressive to a generous
heart, than to be in arrears for favours received.
Must I tell you, my friend, that this thought
has given me no small uneasiness ? I know it is
not in my power to repay your kindnesses to me,
nor to be of half the service to you which you
can be to me ; and you have always done all
you could. What I would desire is, not that
you should waste your time in reading law
books with me, which you know already ; but that
you would answer those questions, and explain
those difficulties, which must occur of course
to a young beginner ; and that you would furnish
me with books, which I cannot at this time
afford to purchase. But above all, that you will
not put me upon the footing of one whom you
think yourself obliged to entertain at the ex-
pense of your time, &c., but use me as one whose
duty and desire is to render himself as useful to
you as possible, and as little burdensome. If
you will promise me these things, I shall be
happy if Mr. Lyon succeeds with Mr. Crompton
the special pleader ; and if not, I will console
myself, conscious that want of merit, not of
friends, was my loss j and that want of merit is
one of Epictetus's " TO. e$ r\}uv" or things in our
own power ; and consequently I will take care
not to be long without it, by your assistance,
who are a part of myself. Adieu, my dear Will."

c 4

24 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

The difficulties which Holden had to en-
counter in putting into execution his design of
qualifying himself for the bar, sometimes threw
a gloom over his spirits, which communicated
itself to his letters. " There is nothing," he
says, in a letter written from London, " I more
ardently desire, than that our friendship may
continue through life. It began at an early
period, and perhaps before either of us was able
to judge what were the essential qualities of a
friend. I have learned since, by disappoint-
ments, to know and value them ; and may truly
pay you that compliment which Hamlet pays to
Horatio. I only fear you will become too seri-
ous and too wise, not to discover imperfections
in me, which will outweigh the few good quali-
ties to which I can have any pretensions. Be-
lieve me, Roscoe, reflections of this nature,
co-operating with retirement, hard study, and
bad health, sometimes throw a gloominess upon
the prospect of my future life, which makes me
regard it with an indifference amounting to dis-
gust. 'Tis a most disagreeable situation, to
have nothing to do but study in hope of some
distant advantage, and only exist at present, that
we may begin to live some years after. I long
to be in some active employment, — no matter
what, provided I can get called to the bar when
the time comes. * * * If something does not fall
out to my mind, you will see me in Liverpool

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 25

in June, where I shall be happy, at least while
with you. But pray write to me often before
that, and put me in humour with the world and
myself. I often see David Samwell, and philo-
sophise with him upon the comparative merits
of a savage and a civilised life ; and we seem
both to be of our friend Rousseau's sentiments.
Samwell is a man of humour, and a great genius,
but indolent : he is going out again with a Cap-
tain King, who had long been Cooke's lieutenant.
* * * I have called once or twice upon Mr. Deare,
who got the medal for a piece of sculpture, and
find him a very agreeable young man, though
rather deficient in other branches of education.
It gives me pleasure to be informed of your pro-
gress in Italian ; but I do not agree with you in
thinking it inferior to the Latin in any respect ;
to the Greek, I own, it is infinitely inferior, —
I mean, when the Greek is pronounced as it
ought to be. If you can spare the plan I gave
you for the Italian verbs, pray send it me with
your next letter, for I do not remember it per-
fectly."

Pecuniary considerations rendered it necessary
that Holden, while engaged in the study of the
law, should adopt some measures for his present
subsistence ; and the plan which he pursued ulti-
mately led him to abandon his legal studies.
He removed to Cambridge ; where his very re-
markable acquirements, and engaging manners,

26 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

soon procured him friends. Having obtained a
competent number of pupils to afford him a
liberal income, he took a house at Chesterton,
and married ; but he had not resided more than
two or three years at that place, when the symp-
toms of approaching consumption threw a gloom
over his prospects, and compelled him to take a
voyage to Lisbon, as the only chance for his re-
covery. Whatever might have been the effects
of a southern climate, he did not live to expe-
rience them.

Another of the friends to whom Mr. Roscoe
was attached by a similarity of pursuits, and
especially by a mutual taste for poetry, was
Robert Rigby, a young man of fine talents,
who, like himself, occasionally devoted his pen
to poetical compositions. The two friends were
accustomed, not only to study together, but,
when their occupations permitted them, to make
excursions into the country, — a circumstance
alluded to in the following lines addressed to
Mr. Rigby: —

" Friend of my heart ! how blest, with thee,

Of late I traversed with unwearied feet
The wide champaign — o'erjoy'd to see

The woodland charms, and breathe an air more sweet ;
To taste that unreproved delight

Which the keen breast with thrilling transport warms,
When full upon the unbounded sight

Luxuriant Nature opens all her charms,

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 27

Where smiles the extended lawn in glowing pride,

Sinks the green vale, or swells the airy hill,
Waves the rude grove its hoary branches wide,

And down its bosom steals the darkling rill.
This, this is transport ; but, alas !

Too soon the transient Eden disappears,
And, fraudful as the artist's magic glass,

The faded prospect now dissolves in tears.
Ah ! what avails the gentler heart,

That beats to every finer feeling true,
Can taste each bliss that genius can impart,

And catch from nature's face each varied hue —
The breast with sympathy that glows,

When on the houseless head the rude storm showers —
If Poverty her hateful form oppose,

Damp all their fires, and deaden all their powers —
For the sweet hour of leisure doom'd to sigh,

Yet waste in ceaseless toils the inglorious year,
To see the friendless child of woe pass by,

And only pay the tribute of a tear ?
Yet envy not the wretch whose countless hoards

To narrow bounds have circumscribed his soul ;
More bliss to generous minds one hour affords ;

Than he can feel whilst circling ages roll."

The spirit of despondency which breathes
through many of Mr. Roscoe's early pieces, and
with which, in his youthful life, he had some-
times to contend, is forcibly displayed in the
foregoing lines.

To the early and sudden death of Robert
Rigby, who was drowned while crossing the Irish
Channel, Mr. Roscoe alludes in some lines ad-
dressed, many years afterwards, to Dr. Currie.

" Twas thus, in health's high bloom and youth elate,
My Rigby yielded to his early fate."

28 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

To the friends already mentioned, in whose
society Mr. Roscoe spent many of the happiest
years of his early life, may be added a young
lady, who, to the usual accomplishments of her
sex, united high cultivation of mind, and con-
siderable poetical talents. Miss Maria Done,
with her sisters, Mrs. Bewley and Mrs. Holmes,
resided in Westmorland ; but an intimacy with
some of Mr. Roscoe's friends in Liverpool, and
temporary visits to that place, led to an ac-
quaintance with him, which gradually ripened
into friendship. They occasionally corresponded,
and exchanged the productions of their Muse.
Several of. Mr. Roscoe's early pieces are ad-
dressed to this lady ; and to her he originally
inscribed his poem of " Mount Pleasant," in
some lines which do not appear in the printed
copy. The character of Miss Done was of the
most admirable and elevated class, as appears
both from her poetry and her correspondence.
She afterwards married Mr. John Barton. Sub-
sequent to this event, she, with her sisters, still
continued on the same friendly footing with
Mr. Roscoe and his family for many years ; and
Mr. Barton became one of his warmest friends,
and most frequent correspondents. Her son,
Mr. Beniard Barton, to whom her poetical
talents have descended, and her daughter, Mrs.
Hack, the author of many valuable works for
children, are well known in the literary world.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 29

Some idea of her powers as a poet, and of her
feelings as a friend, as well as of her fine dis-
cernment and just appreciation of the promise
held out by Mr. Roscoe's early years, may be
formed from the following lines. They occur
at the conclusion of a poem " On Pride,"
dedicated to him, and written in the year 1774.

" But cease, my Muse I unequal to the task,
Forbear the effort, and to nobler hands
Resign the lyre — thee, Roscoe, every Muse
Uncall'd attends, and uninvoked inspires.
In blooming shades and amaranthine bowers
They weave the future laurel for thy brow,
And wait to crown thee with immortal fame.
Thee Wisdom leads in all her lonely walks ;
Thee Genius fires, and moral Beauty charms :
Be it thy task to touch the feeling heart,
Correct its passions, and exalt its aims ;
Teach Pride to own, and owning, to obey
Fair Virtue's dictates, and her sacred laws :
To brighter worlds show thou the glorious road,
And be thy life as moral as thy song."

The causes which led to the formation of that
lively taste for poetry, which was so early de-
veloped in Mr. Roscoe, are not difficult to be
traced. Strong natural feelings, and an ardent
and sanguine temperament, form the foundation
upon which the poetical character is built. This
native susceptibility to the influence of poetry
received, in his case, no check from that strict
attention to other pursuits which the ordinary
education of young persons imposes upon them ;

30 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

and his desultory studies were more frequently
directed to the pages of the poets, than to the
writers whose works are generally put into the
hands of the young. The habits of his early life
were also favourable to the same influences, as
may be clearly traced in the account he has
given of his childhood — of his meditative and
retiring disposition — and of his solitary walks
along the shores of the Mersey. The love of
poetical composition continued to acquire power,
as it will ever do under such favouring circum-
stances ; and before he had attained the age of
twenty, he had produced some poems of no in-
considerable merit. In these, the youthful efforts
of his Muse, may be discovered the dawnings of
his character.

Having become, in the year 1773, one of the
founders of a Society for the Encouragement of
the Arts of Painting and Design, in the town of
Liverpool, he commemorated the event by an
Ode, which was his first published piece. It was
afterwards reprinted, with the poem of " Mount
Pleasant," in the year 1777- This was favourably
noticed in some of the Reviews of the day ; and
the following passage, containing a comparison
between music and painting, was selected as a
specimen of the author's manner : —

" When just degrees of shade and light
Contend in sweetest harmony,
Then bursts upon the raptured sight
The silent music of the eye.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 31

Bold as the base's deeper sound,

We trace the well imagined ground ;

Next, in the varying scenes behind,

The sweet melodious tenor find ;

And as the softening notes decay,

The distant prospect fades away ;

Their aid if mingling colours give,

To bid the mimic landscape live ;
The visual concert breaks upon the eyes,
With every different charm that Music's hand supplies."

A similar comparison between the great mas-
ters of poetry and painting, displays the early
taste of the author for the arts as well as for
literature.

" Majestic, nervous, bold, and strong,

Let Angelo with Milton vie ;
Opposed to Waller's amorous song,

His art let wanton Titian try ;
Let great Romano's free design
Contend with Dryden's pompous line ;
And chaste Correggio's graceful air
With Pope's unblemish'd page compare ;
Loraine may rival Thomson's name ;
And Hogarth equal Butler's fame ;
And still, where'er the aspiring Muse
Her wide unbounded flight pursues,
Her sister soars on kindred wings sublime,
And gives her favourite names to grace the rolls of Time."

Before attaining his twentieth year, he made a
bolder attempt ; and in imitation of the "Grongar
Hill" of Dyer, and the "Edgehill" of Jago,
he selected, as the subject of his poem, Mount
Pleasant, an eminence overlooking the town of
Liverpool.

32 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

" The shades of Grongar bloom secure of fame ;
Edgehill to Jago owes its lasting name ;
When Windsor Forest's loveliest scenes decay,
Still shall they live in Pope's unrivall'd lay :
Led on by Hope, an equal theme I choose ;
Oh ! might the subject boast an equal Muse !
Then should her name the force of time defy,
When sunk in ruins Liverpool shall lie."

In this poem he not only celebrates the growing
importance of his native town, its commerce, and
its public institutions, but attempts, as he often
did in after life, to direct the attention of his
townsmen to the more liberal pursuit of literature
and science, " and to abate that spirit of enter-
prise and thirst of gain, which, when too much
indulged, is seldom productive either of virtue or
happiness." *

" Ah ! why, ye sons of wealth, with ceaseless toil,
Add gold to gold, and swell the shining pile ?
Your general course to happiness ye bend,
Why, then, to gain the means, neglect the end ?
To purchase peace requires a scanty store ;
— Oh, spurn the groveling wish that pants for more !
And thirst not with the same unconquer'd rage,
Till nature whitens in the frost of age ;
But rather on the present hour rely,
And catch the happier moments ere they fly ;
And whilst the spring of life each bliss inspires,
Improve its gifts, and feed the social fires ;
Let Friendship soften, Love her charms disclose,
Peace guard your hours and sweeten your repose :
Yet, not regardless how your joys endure,
Let watchful Prudence make those joys secure."

* Advertisement to " An Ode on the Institution of a So-
ciet in Liverpool, for the Encouragement of Designing," &c.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 33

The temper and tastes of Mr. Roscoe, at this
period of his life, are manifested in the following
lines : —

" Oh still, at midnight's milder hour, be mine
To trace with raptured eye the dear decline !
Catch the pure gale as from the main it springs,
Salubrious freshness dropping from its wings ;
— Then, cares forgot and sorrow soothed to rest,
Each ruder passion banish'd from the breast,
Mild as the hour, and cloudless as the skies,
The mind on stronger pinions loves to rise ;
And loosen'd from the dull restraints of day,
Expansive gives the springs of thought to play.
Bold, active, vigorous, through the enfranchised soul
The nobler trains of fair ideas roll :
The ardent glow that wakes at friendship's name,
The thirst of science, and the patriot flame ;
The generous fear, that wounds the youthful breast,
To live inglorious, and to die unblest;
A liberal scorn of every low desire,
Of all that knaves pursue, and fools admire,
Of fortune's stores, of splendour's sickly blaze,
Precarious bliss, and unsubstantial praise."

That inhuman traffic, against which, through-
out the whole length of a life extended beyond
the common period, the voice of Mr. Roscoe was
unceasingly raised, was not unnoticed in this
early poem. " Mount Pleasant" contains his
first protest against the Slave Trade.

" Mount Pleasant," which was not published
until the year 1777, met with a favourable re-
ception in many quarters. It had previously been
submitted to the cultivated judgment of Dr.

VOL. I. D

34 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

Enfield, who returned it to Mr. Roscoe with the
following letter : —

" I cannot take leave of your excellent poems,
without thanking you for the pleasure they have
afforded me. They cannot fail of being highly
acceptable to every reader of classical taste, and
will, I am persuaded, obtain for their author no
inconsiderable share of reputation. The few
liberties which I have taken, have been rather
with a view to express my respect for the writer,
than in expectation of making any material im-
provement in the poems."

Amongst other persons to whom Mr. Roscoe
presented a copy of his poems, was Sir Joshua
Reynolds, from whom he had the gratification of
receiving an opinion favourable to their merits,
and of learning that the suffrage of Mason had
been given in their favour.

" I am now to return you my thanks for the
present of your poetical works, which I have read
with the greatest pleasure. It is approaching to
impertinence, to say that I was much surprised at
seeing such excellence in a work which I had
never heard of before, or the author's name
reached my ears ; however, I found other people
were not quite so ignorant. I mentioned the
poem to Mr. Mason, who dined with me a few
days ago. I do not recollect that he knew your
name, but he was well acquainted with the poem,
which he read when it was first published. I had

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 35

the satisfaction of hearing my opinion fully con-
firmed by his authority."

Of the early poetical taste of Mr. Roscoe, a
record remains in several manuscript volumes, in
which he had made a selection from the writings
of the popular poets of the day, together with
such fugitive pieces as had attracted his notice.
Shenstone holds a distinguished place in the
collection, in which Goldsmith and Collins also
appear to be favourites. Several original poems
by himself are inserted in these volumes, as well
as in the selections of one in whose studies he took
the greatest interest. At the commencement of
one of the volumes containing those selections,
the following verses appear, written in his own
hand : —

"In the blest round of youth's delightful hours,

How sweet through Fancy's flowery fields to stray,
Catch the wild notes inventive Genius pours,
And stamp on lasting leaves the genuine lay.

" Nor think those hours to trivial cares consign'd,

Thou with the favouring Muses may'st employ ;
Tis they who harmonise the youthful mind,
And waken every avenue to joy.

" Bid the free soul the groveling crew despise,

Whom humbler hopes of power and riches move ;
Bid the free soul to nobler prospects rise —
To Fancy, Friendship, Harmony, and Love."

It was not alone to the pursuits of elegant
literature, and to the pleasures of poetical com-

D 2

36 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

position, that Mr. Roscoe's studies were directed.
More serious enquiries occasionally engaged his
attention. An early and careful perusal of the
Sacred Writings had led him to reflect much
upon subjects which do not usually engage the at-
tention of the young, and gave a tone to his cha-
racter observable throughout the whole course of
his after life. Amongst his youthful writings is
a small volume, to which he had given the title
of " Christian Morality, as contained in the Pre-
cepts of the New Testament, in the Language of
Jesus Christ." To this little tract, Mr. Roscoe,
towards the close of his life, added the following
memorandum : — " Done when I was very young
— very erroneous and imperfect." It had been
submitted to Dr. Enfield, apparently soon after
it was written, and a few verbal corrections and
occasional remarks occur in the handwriting of
that excellent man.

In the introduction to this work, Mr. Roscoe
points out the peculiar beauty and perfectness of
the moral precepts contained in the New Testa-
ment, and explains his motives for the selection
and arrangement which he had made.

" The object of the ensuing sheets is to
collect, in one uniform and regular system, the
moral duties which are inculcated in various
parts of the New Testament, by the direct and
immediate words of our Saviour, and thereby to
promote the knowledge and practice of virtue,

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 37

and to render the study of the Scriptures more
easy and pleasant.

" It is a melancholy but true observation, that
whilst the speculative and abstruse parts of the
New Testament have been the subject of endless
debate, and enquiry, and contention, the moral
or preceptive part has been too often overlooked
and forgotten ; and hence, in a great degree, has
arisen that dreadful perversion which has so
deeply injured the cause of true religion.

" If the Christian scheme was intended for
no other purpose than to instruct mankind in
Divine mysteries, the compiler of the following
pages has deceived himself, and his work is
useless ; but he is bold to ascribe the Divine
mission of Christ to another and more beneficent
purpose ; for it is his persuasion, that the Chris-
tian religion was designed by the Almighty to
promote the eternal happiness of mankind, by
the truest pursuit of their temporal welfare ; to
instruct them in the practice of virtue ; and to
prompt them, by every inducement that can in-
fluence rational and eternal beings, actively to
pursue that course of conduct which alone can
render them finally happy."

The author enforces this remark from the
precepts and example of Christ ; and particularly,
for this purpose, quotes the conclusion of the
Sermon on the Mount (Matt. vii. 15.) as " so
explicit and striking, that it must appear su-

D 3

38 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

perfluous to insist farther on an interpretation of
the Christian doctrine.

" It is not intended to touch in the least on
speculative points, nor even to demonstrate the
belief necessary to salvation : these must be the
employ of a much superior understanding. It
must, however, be remembered, that innumer-
able volumes have been written to compile a
system of belief from the Sacred Volume, and to
separate its doctrines from its precepts ; yet these
authors are not accused of depreciating the
necessity of a blameless conduct: for once, then,
let us endeavour to render the practical part
more useful, by connecting it under one point of
view, without being censured as inimical to the
belief of the more abstruse parts of the Sacred
Scriptures. The excellence of these precepts
cannot be too much insisted on, and equally
command the attention of, and are necessary
to be obeyed by, all sects, parties, and deno-
minations."

The author concludes, by saying, that he
" believes this to be the first attempt to extract
from the New Testament a complete rule of
conduct." It is, perhaps, worthy of notice, that
in 1831, when Mr. Roscoe had the pleasure of a
personal introduction to Rammohun Roy, he
had the satisfaction of showing to the author
of the " Precepts of Jesus," the youthful pro-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 39

duction of his first religious enquiries and im-
pressions.

The work itself is divided into three heads: viz.
Duty to God ; Duty to our Fellow Creatures ;
and Duty to Ourselves. Each of these is illus-
trated by apposite quotations from the precepts
of Christ, connected together by a " few short
illustrations and reflections, suggested to the
author by the plain and literal signification of
the different passages."

The spirit of purity, mercy, forgiveness, and
charity, which breathes throughout the New
Testament, seems peculiarly to have fixed the
attention of Mr. Roscoe in the composition of
this tract ; and it was to the operation of these
divine principles upon his conduct and temper
throughout life, that may be attributed all that
was most attractive and most exalted in his mind
and character.

D

CHAPTER II.

1781—1787.

Is admitted an attorney, and enters into partnership at
Liverpool — his acquaintance with Miss Jane Griffies,
and correspondence with her — his marriage with her —
visits London — his taste for collecting prints and books —
his love of art. — " Society for promoting Painting and
Design" established at Liverpool — his lectures there —
hisjirst acquaintance with Fuseli — 'writes " The Origin
of Engraving" a poem — reference in that poem to
Lorenzo de' Medici — his collection of prints — his cor-
respondence with Mr. Strutt, author of the " Dictionary
of Engravers" — his contributions to that voork — is
elected an honorary member of the Literary and Philo-
sophical Society of Manchester.

CHAPTER II.

HAVING completed the period of his clerkship,
Mr. Roscoe was, in the year 177^, admitted an
attorney of the Court of King's Bench, and
commenced the practice of his profession at Li-
verpool. In the course of the same year he en-
tered into partnership with a gentleman of the
name of Bannister; but this connection lasted
only a short period. A second engagement of
the same kind was more fortunate ; and, in con-
junction with Mr. Samuel Aspinall, who had long
been known by the respectability of his practice,
lie became actively engaged in the duties of his
profession.

He did not, however, neglect the studies which
had already attracted so much of his attention ;
and, in the society of the friends who have al-
ready been mentioned, he continued to prosecute
his literary enquiries during the intervals of busi-
ness.

Amongst those with whom, at this early period
of his life, Mr. Roscoe was in habits of intimacy,
was the family of Mr. William G riffles, a re-
spectable tradesman of Liverpool. Of the three
daughters of Mr. Griffies, the second, Jane, soon

44 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

attracted his admiration, and won his affection,
by her gentle yet lively manners, by the sweet-
ness of her disposition, and by the many ad-
mirable qualities of her truly feminine mind.
Although the state of his circumstances at this
time gave little promise of an immediate union
with the object of his attachment, it was not the
wish, and perhaps it was scarcely in the power,
of one possessing the frank and ardent character
of Mr. Roscoe, to conceal from her the feelings
she had inspired. From that moment, to the close
of his long and eventful life, he never found rea-
son to regret, for one instant, the judgment of his
youth.

A similarity of tastes, if it could not add strength
to an attachment founded upon higher principles,
yet lent it no mean ornament. Affection may be
won by sweetness of disposition, and esteem and
respect by talents and by virtue ; but no other
quality can confer the nameless interest which
arises from a happy congruity of tastes and of
pursuits. To feel with one heart, to judge with
one mind, and to look to the same high and pure
sources for happiness, are the most beautiful links
in the golden chain of domestic union. At an
early age, Miss Jane Griffies had evinced a great
attachment to literary pursuits, especially to
poetry ; and had selected and arranged, with
much taste and judgment, a collection, in several
volumes, from the works of the most popular

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 45

writers of the day. A journal, which she was in
the habit of keeping at this period of her life, is
also a proof of her love of study, and of her
pleasing and simple style of composition. To
promote and encourage her taste for writing, Mr.
Roscoe, although they both resided in the same
town, induced her to commence a correspondence
with him ; which, continuing for many years, until
the period of his marriage, forms an interesting
record of his views and feelings at this period of
his life.

" Your journal," he observes, in one of the
earliest of these letters*, " is now discontinued ;
and as I know you have an aversion to being idle,
I should think myself very fortunate could I en-
gage your leisure hours in a communication of
this kind. Nothing can be more innocent —
nothing more rational ; and though the generality
of mankind might think it a little silly, I hope
you and I have too great an opinion of our own

consequence to be guided by vulgar opinions.

*****

" I cannot help pleasing myself with the re-
flection, what an infinite variety of subjects this
intercourse would give rise to. Convinced of
the perfect confidence which subsists between
us, how freely might our thoughts expand them-
selves ! The desire of pleasing might cause
some little attention to the mode of expression,
* Dated March 30. 1777.

46 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

whilst the certainty of a mutual indulgence would
prevent us from being apprehensive about trivial
inaccuracies.

" I own this scheme begins to grow a favourite
with me, and I beg my dearest Jane will not
overthrow my expectations."

In a letter, written soon after the foregoing,
he alludes to the circumstances which, for the
present, prevented his marriage.

"It is a remark which has been made by us
both, that our situation is a very particular one.
Whilst we are separate, we enjoy every conve-
nience that a frugal competence can afford ; but
there seems at present to be an invincible bar
to our united happiness, which time only can
remove. If, however, we are unfortunate in this
circumstance, let us be grateful to Providence for
the many advantages we enjoy, to make amends
in some degree for the suspension of better times.
The frequent opportunity we have of enjoying
each other's company — sometimes in an un-
reserved and uninterrupted exchange of senti-
ments ; the similarity of our tastes and dis-
positions ; and, above all, the conviction we have
of the lasting continuance of each other's affec-
tion : these are advantages seldom experienced
amongst lovers, and which, if they cannot confer
happiness, must at least banish discontent.

" My dearest Jane cannot imagine how proud
I am to reflect, that whilst numbers around

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 47

us are almost every day united upon sordid,
capricious, and unworthy motives, we have
chosen a nobler plan, and formed a connection
upon the most liberal, the most disinterested
principles. Conscious of the rectitude of our
conduct, and the innocence of our hearts, we have
nothing to fear ; but can place our confidence in
that great Being who never deceives those who
put their trust in him — that Being who has ever
been a guardian to us both, and who, I hope,
will at length crown his goodness by rendering
us happy in ourselves, and in the knowledge of
each other's happiness."

Occasionally more gloomy prospects of the
future presented themselves, and it was with dif-
ficulty that he reconciled himself to his situation.
— " It would be impossible for me to attempt to
write on any other subject, whilst I feel so much
anxiety from the thought of our unfortunate and
hopeless situation. Deprived as we are of al-
most the most distant prospect of an union that
can promise a probability of happiness, how can
our attachment be unembittered ? It is in vain
that I love my Jane with the most unreserved
affection, or that she assures me of a return of
my passion. Obstacles that appear insurmount-
able forbid us to indulge the thought of a more
endearing connection.

"It is but of late that I have felt the full
force of this misfortune. Always ready to flatter

48 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

myself, I imagined a time might come that
would be more favourable to our wishes. That
expectation now subsides ; and in the prospect
of my future life I see no object that can reason-
ably induce me to desire its continuance."

The pain which the postponement of his
hopes occasioned, was, however, alleviated by
the reflection, that the self-denial he practised
enabled him to support those whom nature and
fortune had made dependent upon his industry.

" Hitherto," he observes, in a letter written
during the same year, " my path through life
has been clouded with anxiety ; and though the
pleasures of love and of friendship have at
times raised me above the recollection of un-
happiness, the consciousness of my situation
always returns with additional uneasiness ; yet,
my dearest Jane, think not I blame the dis-
pensations of that Being, whose goodness to me
has been manifested throughout my whole life.
If my own situation is not the most desirable,
it is with no common degree of satisfaction that
I reflect, I have been enabled, so far, to screen
a helpless parent, and a deserving sister, from
the hardships of an unfeeling world ; and whilst
I make that reflection, I never can be wholly
unhappy." .

The same ideas are expressed in the following
lines, written about the same period : —

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 49

" Oh ! if, upon my natal morn,
Plenty had fill'd her liberal horn,
And Fate thy hopeless lover blest
With arts to win thy gentle breast ;
Then thou, the partner of his life,
Hadst own'd the tender name of wife ;
Thy smiles had every bliss improved,
Thy sympathy each care removed,
Thy calm advice his passions sway'd,
Thine hand, in sickness, raised his head ;
Whilst he, with love's pervading eyes,
Had mark'd thine embryo wishes rise,
And ere to full perfection brought,
Precluded every anxious thought.

*' But Heaven forbade — some happier youth,
(Oh, may he equal me in truth !)
Born under favouring stars, shall gain
That heart thy Roscoe loved in vain —
For him that candid smile shall rise,
On him shall beam those lucid eyes ;
His ears those much loved accents bless,
And his be every fond caress.
— Oh, may he know thy worth, and own
A soul to love that worth when known ;
Whilst I for humbler views resign
Each flattering hope that once was mine ;
Resolved, whilst penury remains,
To seek no partners in my pains,
But thankful still, if Heaven supply
The hard earn'd fruits of industry,
Enough to soothe a sister's fears,
And screen a parent's sinking years."

Many poetical pieces are scattered through
this correspondence. " I must yet,'* he says,
in a letter, dated the 9th of May, 1777, " copy
you a sonnet, if I have room, which I suppose

VOL. I. E

50 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

some of my brethren would call an extempore,
as it has been fabricated in about ten mi-
nutes : —

" O my loved Julia ! in whose tender breast

Each fairer virtue ever finds a place,

And every milder charm and softer grace,
With each ennobling passion loves to rest ;
Thou who, in humble state, canst boast a mind

In loftiest spheres that might applauded move,
Yet shrinking from the public gaze, to find

The warmer transports of domestic love —
Like some fair flower, that, hid from human eye,

Pours all its fragrance on the trackless vale,

Has thy unsullied life its vernal glow
Accomplished — and that happier shepherd I,

To whom kind Heaven the treasure did reveal,

Dearer than every gift its kindness could bestow."

Occasionally a few verses of a lighter and
livelier character are interspersed, as in the fol-
lowing parody of his favourite Shenstone. —
" I think I some time since promised to make
you a present of an inkstand, and I have ac-
cordingly got one for you ; but when I once
begin to rhyme, I never know where to leave
off, so must present it in verse : —

" A present I 've bought for my fair,

An inkstand of curious device,
But to tell what it cost I '11 forbear,
She '11 say 't was a barbarous price.

" For he ne'er could be true, she averr'd,

Who in nicknacks his money would spend,
And I lov'd her the more when I heard
Such savingness at her tongue's end."

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 51

In the spring of the year 1778, Miss Jane G riffles
visited London, where she had an opportunity
of gratifying the literary tastes of Mr. Roscoe,
by assisting him in the collecting of his library,
which, from his earliest youth, had been one of
his chief pleasures. " Let me know," she says,
in a letter addressed to him soon after her
arrival, " what particular books of the Elzevir
editions I must buy, and the extent of the price,
as I called at a place where there will be some
in a few days." In a subsequent letter she
sends him a list of such books as she thought
would be suitable to his collection. " I am
obliged," he observes in his answer, " beyond
measure, by your kindness in sending me the
list of books ; indeed, my dear Jane, there is
nothing gives a more indisputable proof of af-
fection, than those little attentions to the pur-
suits and inclinations of each other which have
long marked our connection, and in which I
hope you have never found me deficient." — " I
thank you," he says, in another letter, " for
the trouble you have taken in procuring and
sending me the list of Elzevirs from Otridge,
which I have looked over ; but they are so ex-
tremely dear, that I really cannot find in my
heart to purchase any. I could like Cicero
vastly, but three guineas is a most enormous
price for ten volumes not above the breadth of
my three fingers. I this day got a catalogue

E 2

52 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

published by Lockyer Davis, in Holborn, out
of which I should take it as a very particular
favour if you would get me the undermentioned
books. If it is convenient, I would have you
send them the first opportunity, as I fear they
will otherwise be gone, and I am particularly
anxious about the first book. * * * Should
you get the above, or any of them, you will
be so kind, if you dare venture (which indeed
I have no right to expect), to pay for them, and
get the bookseller to send them to the next
waggon, directed to me."

While Miss Griffies was residing in London,
the lady who had supplied the place of the
mother whom she had lost in her infancy, was
seized with an alarming illness, and it became
the duty of Mr. Roscoe to communicate the
distressing intelligence of her sickness, and sub-
sequently of her death. This portion of the
correspondence illustrates so well a peculiar
quality of Mr. Roscoe's mind, — the firmness and
resignation with which he ever submitted to the
inevitable misfortunes of life, — that it would be
unjust to omit it.

" As I cannot write on any other subject,
whilst I have any circumstance to commu-
nicate which can in the least degree affect your
peace of mind, I am under a necessity of ac-
quainting you that for these three days past Mrs.
Wilson has been very low and poorly, and from

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 53

her great age and natural weakness, there is, in
my opinion, great reason to apprehend she can-
not get over any considerable length of time.
We are not without hope that a few days may
restore her to her usual state of healt h, as you
know she has often sudden complai nts, which
she as speedily gets the better of. But should
it be otherwise ordered, I trust you w ill submit
to the appointments of Providence without
murmuring at its dispensations ; and, instead
of indulging an excess of grief (equally injurious
to your health and inexcusable in a moral view),
will return thanks to the Author of all good for
the length of days this good woman has enjoyed,
and the many comforts she has equally received
and communicated for such a length of time.
Whatever the sincerest affection and kindest
tenderness could do for her, I have been a wit-
ness she has long experienced. And to add to
her former blessings, she has not even now the
least degree of pain, nor makes the least com-
plaint, and her death (whenever it happens)
will, I apprehend, be as calm, easy, and imper-
ceptible, as a person felling asleep. Teh1 me,
then, what more is to be wished for, unless we
were impious enough to desire that she should
never die?"

The next letter communicates the account of
Mrs. Wilson's death.

" It is now my painful office to give you the
E 3

54 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

melancholy information that Mrs. Wilson is no
more. She died about two o'clock this after-
noon, without a struggle or even a sigh, and
will undoubtedly now participate in that hap-
piness which God has appointed, as the reward
of a life spent in undissembled goodness, in use-
fulness and innocence.

" If in this painful moment you perform that
duty which you owe to yourself, to your friends,
and the memory of the deceased, you will call
your reason, and even your affection to the
living, to your assistance, and submit, with a
calm and humble resignation, to an event which
was alone in the power of Providence, and
which you had every reason to expect could not
be far distant ; and instead of repining at the dis-
pensation, your emotions should be only those of
gratitude to God for his kindness to her through
a long and happy life, and his greater kindness
in allotting to her an easy and tranquil death.

" It is not, my dearest Jane, that I would wish
you to repress entirely those emotions of ten-
derness which a heart sensible as yours must
feel on the loss of a person so deservedly dear
to you. Nature will not be restrained by the
intrusion of cold advice and unfeeling reasoning ;
and where we are deeply wounded, we must
deeply feel. Yet, my dearest girl, the severest
sorrow has its intervals; and it is at these mo-
ments I would wish you to consider those fa-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 55

vourable circumstances in this event which I
have before pointed out to you, and which
cannot fail of affording you real consolation.
Your sisters bear the event with resignation, and,
as they have nothing to feel for the deceased,
only distress themselves on your account. As
I am certain you bear them the sincerest affec-
tion, this will be another inducement to you to
avoid indulging an excess of grief.

" I must again repeat to you, do not, by any
means, harbour a thought of leaving London
till the time you intended. There needs no rea-
son to convince you how fruitless such a scheme
would be ; and, I again repeat, what almost
irks me to say, we should be sorry to see you,
as it will be depriving yourself of pleasure to
answer no purpose."

In a letter written a few days afterwards, he
points out the uselessness of immoderate grief.

" But you will, perhaps, tell me that your
painful sensations are not entirely selfish ; that
they have a reference to the loss you have lately
sustained ; and that you lament the respected
person who has been your guardian from your
infancy. Need I urge any thing to convince
you of the weakness and folly of such conduct ?
As well might you lament the condition of a
friend, who, from a state of precarious indigence,
pain, and sickness, was suddenly restored to
health and to affluence. When neither yourself

E 4

56 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

nor the person you grieve for, are, in any respect,
objects of compassion, but, on the contrary, in
a state of prosperity, how can you find food for
sorrow ?

" Another, and, perhaps, a more efficacious
way, will be for you to mingle in the amusements
and diversions of the gay place you are now in ;
and that, not merely as a spectator, but as a par-
taker. There is, perhaps, a kind of delicacy
which represents a conduct of this kind as too
little respectful to the memory of the person we
lament ; but it is certainly a false kind of deli-
cacy, as it serves only to make ourselves miserable
without a shadow of advantage to our lost friends,
who, we must suppose, if they now superintend
our earthly concerns, would be glad to see us
cheerful and happy in the joint pursuit of our
pleasure and our duty, rather than wasting our
time, our health, and our peace of mind, in vain
and fruitless, not to say criminal, lamentations."

As the professional engagements of Mr. Ros-
coe increased, and demanded an additional
devotion of his time and attention, he found it
necessary to circumscribe, in some degree, those
more agreeable studies which he had hitherto
pursued with so lively a relish. His great object
now was, to make himself sufficiently independent
to gratify the first wish of his heart ; and with
this view he applied himself with unremitting
assiduity to the discharge of his professional

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 57

duties. His industry and intelligence soon won
the regard of his partner, Mr. Aspinall, with
whom he lived upon terms of the most friendly
understanding. " I am extremely happy," he
says, in a letter written in the spring of the year
1779, " in my present connection ; my part-
ner is one of the most well-behaved, and, at the
same time, one of the most friendly hearted,
sincere men I ever met with, and has, on every
occasion, behaved to me with a great deal of
affection and generosity : as I know his temper
and his wishes, it gives me an opportunity of
repaying his kindness, which I should think
myself ungrateful if I neglected." In the same
letter he states his own views with regard to his
settlement in life, from which it will be seen how
free his mind was from any feelings of vulgar
ambition.

" You know my sentiments with regard to
pecuniary matters, and I hope the principles
and grounds of my opinions are not entirely
imaginary. My utmost ambition would be to
attain, by the industry and labour of my early
days, such a competency as would enable those
around me, and with whom I should be most
nearly connected, to know themselves secure of
the necessaries of life, in any event, and permit
me to enjoy a few tranquil years of leisure and
retirement, under the guidance of my own
native and unrestrained disposition ; which has

58 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

ever had a tendency to avoid crowds, noise, and
contention, in the company of a few, very few,
chosen friends ; whilst the unabating ardour
of conjugal affection, increased and refined by
years, should add a double relish to every enjoy-
ment. To you I need not point out the advan-
tages of this plan, and the good effects which
may arise from a steady pursuit of it; and I
flatter myself I have shown some adherence to
it already, in quitting some enticing and pleasing
pursuits, which must have inevitably interfered
with my general design. It is true, the amuse-
ments of poetry and the incense of praise con-
stitute of themselves some degree of happiness,
and, it may be said, happiness should never be
slighted. But, alas ! I am a traveller ; and be-
fore I intend to indulge myself, I purpose to
get to the end of my journey. If every beau-
tiful prospect, and every shepherd's pipe, must
allure me out of my road, what probability is
there that I shah1 ever find myself at rest?"

" How should I rejoice," says his correspond-
ent, in her answer to the above letter, " were
your circumstances such as allowed the indul-
gence of those pursuits so consistent with your
genius, so agreeable to your taste ; but though
it may be prudent to make a sacrifice of them
at present, yet I hope it will prove a momentary
one, and that, after a short time, an establish-
ment in your profession will yield you more

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 59

leisure, and lead to the renewal of those plea-
sures you now relinquish."

The circumstances of Mr. Roscoe's situation
at this time are alluded to in a very pleasing
manner by his correspondent, Mr. Barton : —

"It is time to say something with regard
to yourself. Have you yet recovered from
your lameness ? How are you going forward
in your new connection ? When did you hear

from London ? And when ? I perceive

you have already filled up the blank, and I hope
the question will ere long be an unnecessary
one. Need I add (but I am sure I need not),
that whenever the endearing connection takes
place, I most sincerely wish it may be attended
with all the happiness that can (and surely the
most substantial happiness may) result from it.
In some cases, too, we may, I think, most justly,
do more than wish — we may both hope for and
expect this happiness. Where cultivated under-
standings, sensibility of heart, and, above all, an
honest, undissembled, mutual attachment, are
to be found in the married state, happiness, and
that of the most refined and rational kind, cannot
possibly be wanting ; may it be yours, my worthy
friend, to find, as I am well convinced you de-
serve it."

At length the period arrived, when the state of
his business permitted the union which had so
long been the object of his wishes ; and on the

60 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

of February, 1781, he was married to Miss
Jane Griffies, at St. Ann's Church, Liverpool.
For some years after this event, he devoted him-
self assiduously to the practice of his profession,
though without altogether neglecting the studies
more agreeable to his taste. Notwithstanding
the additional expense of his new establishment,
he continued to add to his collection of books ;
and " a sumptuous edition of Ariosto," which he
had commissioned his friend Mr. Barton to pur-
chase for him about this time, appears to have
revived that taste for Italian literature which he
had derived from his friend Francis Holden.

In the spring of the year 1782, Mr. Roscoe
visited London, on professional business, and took
advantage of the opportunity thus afforded him,
to add, so far as his slender resources extended,
to his small collection of books and prints.

" Our trial," he says in a letter to Mrs. Roscoe,
" cannot possibly come on till the 28th or 29th
of this month ; so that I am likely to have enough
of London, having already made some discoveries
which many wise heads have made out before
me, and handed to posterity by the name of pro-
verbs, such as " Happiness begins at home," —
" Man never is, but always to be blest ;" and
those lines of Goldsmith certainly haunt me, —
" Even whilst fashion's brightest scenes," &c —
but it is yet time enough to make complaints.

" I have laid out about forty shillings in prints,

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. Gl

and find no inclination to any more extravagance
in that article. My book account already amounts
to a good deal more, but I trust I shall have
prudence enough to restrain it in decent bounds.
Be assured, I am not without a full sense of the
danger I run in the many temptations which sur-
round me in this line, but my affection for you
is the great security which must prevent me from
trespassing in this respect, as well as in all others."

" This morning," says Mrs. Roscoe, in answer
to the above letter, " I received your letter, and
sincerely thank you for every kind consideration ;
but do not restrain yourself too much ; and do me
the justice to believe, that whenever I suggest a
plan of economy it does not proceed from narrow
motives, but from a consciousness of the many
dependencies upon us. Heaven has hitherto fa-
voured us with unlooked-for blessings, and, I
trust, will continue the enjoyment of them. To
doubt its providence would be the highest in-
gratitude."

Even the very moderate expense upon which
Mr. Roscoe at this time ventured in gratifying his
taste for literature and art, was a source of anxiety
to him. " There is one circumstance," he ob-
serves, in a letter addressed, during his visit to
London, to Mrs. Roscoe, " which is a continual
mortification to me, viz. the thought that I am
not likely to get any thing by my journey, ex-
clusive of the expenses I have imprudently gone

62 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

to in buying things which I might very well have
done without. In books and prints I have spent
full as much as I proposed, but have now put a
stop to it, and shall keep myself within bounds.
What I have purchased besides, I intend to con-
vert into money on my arrival at Liverpool, which
I can do without losing a farthing."

" You seem," observes Mrs. Roscoe, in answer
to the foregoing letter, " to consider the present
expenses of your journey as extravagant ; but this
I cannot admit of. You may not have another
opportunity of visiting London again for a long
time, and a little indulgence is only reasonable ;
but I perfectly agree with you as to the necessity
of a general economy. By a strict attention to
it now, we shall open a path to competence, and
to that easy independence so desirable to us both.
When I mention competence, you know my ideas
are not extensive. I only wish to be in a situ-
ation to render a service to others without the
disagreeable reflection of injuring the interests of
those who depend on us alone. I have some-
times been afraid you have thought me sordid
and ungenerous ; but indeed I never valued
money for itself."

During this visit to the metropolis, he was
present at Westminster Hall on the occasion
when Lord Mansfield, in imitation of the Lord
Chief Justice North, desired the attorneys to
proceed in the absence of counsel.

LIFE OF .WILLIAM ROSCOE. 03

" I am just returned from Westminster Hall,
and have seen Lord Mansfield trying causes with-
out a single counsel in court. The attorneys
pleaded for themselves, and most extraordinary
figures some of them cut. This arises from an
obstinacy on both sides, between Lord Mansfield
and the counsel ; the latter think it absolutely
necessary to keep holiday on Whit Monday and
Tuesday, while his Lordship thinks it better to
despatch, as fast as he can, the causes which come
before him, and to which every delay adds a
considerable expense."

The taste of Mr. Roscoe for elegant literature
was early associated with a love of art. When
about twenty years of age, he had been, as already
stated, one of the most active members of the
Society for promoting the Arts of Painting, De-
sign, &c. at Liverpool, and had celebrated the
institution by the publication of an ode. From the
want of efficient support, this society had only a
transient existence. In the year 1784, however,
Mr. Roscoe, in conjunction with Mr. Daulby,
and some other gentlemen, endeavoured to create
a taste for the arts in Liverpool by the revival of
the " Society for promoting Painting and De-
sign," and by an exhibition of paintings and
drawings under the patronage of that society.*

* The Catalogues of the two first exhibitions of the society,
in 1783 and 1787, are now before the writer, and form in-
teresting memorials of the history of Liverpool. Mr. Henry

64 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

Mr. Roscoe ventured to introduce into the ex-
hibition one or two drawings from his own pencil;
and the ticket of admission was etched by his
hand. Through his means, also, Sir Joshua Rey-
nolds was interested in the undertaking. " I am
very glad," he says, in a letter addressed to Mr.
Roscoe, in October, 1784, " to hear of the suc-
cess of your exhibition, and shall always wish to
contribute to it to the best of my power."

One of the chief objects of this society was
the diffusion of information on the subject of
art by means of lectures ; and in the course of
the year 1785, several lectures " On the History
of Art," and " on the Knowledge and Use of
Prints, and the History and Progress of the Art
of Engraving," were delivered by Mr. Roscoe.
At the conclusion of one of the latter lectures,
he took the opportunity of applauding the genius
of Fuseli, at that time little known. He speaks
of him as "an artist by no means inferior to any
of those who dignify the present Royal Insti-
tution ; and though," he adds, " the public are
not yet in possession of any of his works in this

Blundell, of Ince, was the president for the first year, and
Mr. Roscoe the vice-president ; for the second year, Mr.
Ashton was president, and Mr. Roscoe formed one of the
committee. The exhibitors are chiefly natives of Liver-
pool : but a picture by Fuseli, two by Barrett, and two by
Stothard, appear in the first exhibition ; and in the second,
the names of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Gainsborough, Fuseli,
Farrington, and Wright of Derby, occur.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 65

line, I shall not be apprehensive of incurring
any future impeachment of my judgment when
I mention the name of FUSELI. "

It was during his visit to London in 1782,
that Mr. Roscoe first saw and admired the paint-
ings of Fuseli, with whom he then contracted a
friendship which was cemented by numerous
good offices towards that celebrated painter. In
a letter to Mrs. Roscoe, written at a later period,
he mentions the pleasure he derived from the
society of Fuseli : — " Last night Wakefield and
I got tea and supped with Fuseli, who is in great
spirits, and very friendly. * * * He is a
wonderful man, and certainly the most agreeable
companion that can be, when pleased ; and even
when not so, his very anger and resentment may
be tolerated for the sake of the wit and liveliness
they produce."

Of the genius of Fuseli he had formed the
highest opinion, and from the period of their
first acquaintance he became interested in his
success, and used his influence for him in the
disposal of his pictures.

" A letter from me," says Fuseli, in 1783, —
" a letter, too, of acknowledgments for your
very friendly and vigorous exertions in my fa-
vour, does not, perhaps, come with a very good
grace. I might, indeed, plead the painter's
privilege with a poet, if I knew not that the
habits of a more serious employment have made

VOL. I. F

66 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

you an exception from the fraternity of Irre-
gulars. All I can say is, that I have never
forgotten those few agreeable moments spent
with you in London, and on the road ; and that
the flattering hopes of being able to see you at
Liverpool made me neglect writing. Those
hopes have not yet left me ; in the mean time
I shall make it a point to employ myself in a
manner not altogether unworthy of your good
wishes and encouragements."

In the year 1785, Fuseli, on the invitation of
Mr. Roscoe, paid a visit to Liverpool, the recol-
lection of which appears, from his letters, to
have afforded him much pleasure.

It was about this time, while his attention
was devoted to the study of art, that Mr. Roscoe
produced a poem of some length, under the title
of " The Origin of Engraving." This piece,
which has never been published, displays an
intimate acquaintance with the different styles
of the great masters in that branch of art, and
evinces no inconsiderable poetical skill in the
introduction of the various descriptions.

The following lines allude to the revival of
art in the fifteenth century, and, with the note
appended to them, are curious, as showing the
attachment of the writer, even at this period, to
the great subject which afterwards employed
his pen : —

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. j

" In elder Greece when arms and science reign'd,
The finer arts an equal rank maintain'd,
High 'midst the rest, the Muse of Painting shone,
And bade the admiring world her wonders own ;
To nature true, the graceful outline flow'd,
With more than life the vivid colours glow'd ;
Applauding nations saw with grateful joy,
And wealth and honours crown'd the fair employ :
Yet whelm'd amid the wreck of former days,
Lie the gay monuments of ancient praise,
And though revolving years have spared the name,
Dimm'd is the radiance of the painter's fame.

Long droop'd the sacred art — but rose at length
With brighter lustre and redoubled strength ;
When great Lorenzo*, 'midst his mild domain,
Led the gay Muses and their kindred train ;
Then, as the bard the imagined story drew,
The kindling artist bade it rise to view ;
Till the strong comment shamed the sister art,
And found a nearer passage to the heart."

For several years Mr. Roscoe had been in the
habit of amusing himself, during the hours of
leisure which his profession afforded, by forming
a small collection of engravings, in the study of
which he found great pleasure. The opportu-

* " Lorenzo de' Medici, called the Magnificent, (born in
1448, died in 1492,) was the director of the Florentine re-
public for upwards of twenty years, and the father of John
de' Medici, afterwards pope, by the name of Leo X. To
the munificence and taste of Lorenzo is principally to be
attributed the sudden progress of the fine arts in Italy at the
close of the fifteenth century. But this is only a small part
of his praise. If a full enquiry be made into his life and
character, he will appear to be not only one of the most ex-
traordinary, but, perhaps, upon the whole, the most extraor-
dinary man that any age or nation has produced."

F 2

68 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

nities supplied by his occasional visits to London
were gladly taken advantage of; and as the in-
dulgence of the taste was at that period less
expensive than at present, he succeeded in ob-
taining such a collection as enabled him to pro-
secute with gratification and advantage the study
of this branch of art. The late Mr. Joseph
Strutt being at this time engaged in preparing
for publication his " Biographical Dictionary of
Engravers," Mr. Roscoe communicated to him
some observations on the art, the receipt of which
Mr. Strutt acknowledges in the following letter,
dated in 1785 : —

" I received your obliging letter last night,
with the excellent Essay on the art of engraving,
for which I return you my most sincere thanks.
The observations contained in it are, as you re-
mark, entirely new ; and, from the mode of their
arrangement, precisely what are highly necessary
to precede a work like mine. As you have kindly
permitted me to make use of them, I shall cer-
tainly give them to the public in the form in
which they stand, which cannot possibly, as I
conceive, be altered for the better ; and I hope
you will favour me, whenever you can find leisure,
with any observations that may strike you, either
concerning the art itself, or any of the artists ;
for every assistance from a person of your taste
and judgment will contribute greatly to the en-
riching of the work, which of course, as a mere
dictionary, must be exceedingly dry."

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 69

In the Dissertation which is prefixed to his
Dictionary, Mr. Strutt has accordingly availed
himself of a portion of the Essay thus fur-
nished, which he introduces with this remark : —
" With respect to the use and excellency of the
art of engraving, I beg leave to subjoin the fol-
lowing observations. They were drawn up by a
gentleman of great taste, and are the result of a
critical examination of the greatest masters ; and
will, I trust, be still more acceptable to the public,
as they are not the remarks of an engraver, but
of a gentleman no otherways interested in the
cause, than as a man of science and a lover of
the arts."

It was at one time the intention of Mr. Strutt
to add a third volume to his Dictionary, in the
preparation of which he proposed to avail him-
self of the assistance of Mr. Roscoe. " I thank
you," he says, in a letter to the latter, " for your
obliging permission to insert your name in the
list of my benefactors, but still more for the name
of friend which you have kindly added ; and I
sincerely wish it was in my power in any man-
ner to return those singular favours and repeated
marks of friendship which I have received at
your hands. But instead of paying off any ar-
rears, I am running still deeper in debt, as you
will find, when I add, that a third volume must,
of necessity, follow these two, exactly upon the
plan you have proposed. It will be preceded
by a dissertation upon etching in general, and
F 3

70 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

painters' etchings in particular, with complete
(or as nearly so as possible) catalogues of the
works of the greatest masters. This, as you
justly observe, may either be connected with, or
purchased separate from, the Dictionary/'

In consequence of this communication, Mr.
Roscoe was induced to transmit to his corre-
spondent an Essay, under the title of " Remarks
on Etching," and " An Idea of a Chronological
Collection of Engravings," intended to form part
of the projected third volume of the " Dictionary
of Engravers."

" I received your kind present," says Mr.
Strutt, " with the obliging letter enclosed
in it. I have diligently examined the whole
of the work, and think it is drawn up in an
admirable manner ; neither could it possibly
have been comprised in a less compass. I want
words to express my gratitude to you for the
trouble you have been at on my account. I shall
certainly print it as it stands, with very few ad-
ditions to the names of the artists ; the number
of which, with the greatest propriety, is made as
short as it can be."

Engagements of another nature, into which
Mr. Strutt entered, prevented him from carrying
on his design of adding to his Dictionary ; and
the contributions from Mr. Roscoe were returned
to him, with the following observations: — " I
am highly obliged to you for your kind offers,

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 71

and should receive them with the warmest gra-
titude if I was proceeding with the work, as I am
well assured they would form a very valuable
part of it. But let me endeavour to prevail upon
you to give them to the public from your own
hand. I mean your " Remarks on Etching;"
to which may properly be added, the " Idea of
a Chronological Collection," &c. Any kind of in-
formation that I can possibly supply you with, you
may at all times command. I again add, that I am
confident you will greatly oblige the public by
the publication. It will make a complete volume
by itself, and the usefulness of such a work need
not be pointed out."

In the course of this year (1784), Mr. Roscoe
was elected an honorary member of the Literary
and Philosophical Society of Manchester. His
diploma bears the signatures of Dr. Percival and
Dr. Henry.

F 4-

CHAPTER III.

1787—1792.

Early opinions of Mr. Roscoe on the subject of the
African slave trade — his allusion to it in the poem of
"Mount Pleasant." — Publication of " The Wrongs of
Africa" — translated into German. — Publication of the
" General View of the African Slave Trade" his
pamphlet in answer to the Rev. Raymund Harris. —
Thanks of the Abolition Committee. — Publication of
the " Inquiry into the Causes of the Insurrection of the
Negroes in the Island of St. Domingo"

CHAPTER III.

THE African slave trade constituted, at this
period, a great part of the commerce of Liver-
pool. A numerous body of merchants and ship-
owners, and a still more formidable array of
masters of vessels, and sailors, looked to the
continuance of that traffic for their emolument
or their support. The wealth and prosperity
of the town were supposed to depend chiefly
upon this branch of commerce, and there were
few persons whose interests were not, directly
or indirectly, connected with the prosecution
of it. Even those whose employments had no
reference to commercial objects, found their
opinions and feelings with regard to the traffic
necessarily affected by the tone of the society
in which they mingled.* Under these circum-

* The painful effect which the discussion of the Slave
Question occasioned in Liverpool is described by Dr. Currie,
in a letter written in the year 1788. — " The general discus-
sion of the slavery of the negroes has produced much un-
happiness in Liverpool. Men are awaking to their situation ;
and the struggle between interest and humanity has made
great havoc in the happiness of many families. If I were to
attempt to tell you the history of my own transactions in
this business, I should consume more time than I can spare.
Altogether, I have felt myself more interested and less happy

76 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

stances it was hardly to be expected that Liver-
pool should be the place from which a voice
should be heard appealing to the world on behalf
of the captive African. Fortunately, however,
the mind of Mr. Roscoe remained unshackled
by the prejudices or the interests of those around
him, nor did any motives of a personal nature
operate to prevent the expression of his opinions.
He had been gifted with those strong feelings
of abhorrence to injustice, and of resistance to
oppression, which are the great moral engines
bestowed by God upon man for the maintenance
of his virtue and his freedom. The " aversion
to compulsion," recorded by Mr. Roscoe as one
of his earliest characteristics, led him in his youth
to form very decided opinions upon this ques-
tion, which, in his after life, occupied much of
his attention, and in which he had ultimately the
gratification of knowing that he had laboured

than is suited to my other avocations. The attempts that
are continually made to justify this gross violation of the
principles of justice, one cannot help repelling; and, at the
same time, it is dreadful to hold an argument, where, if your
opponent is convinced, he must be made miserable." — Me-
moirs, vol. i. p. 1 35.

In the same letter, Dr. Currie gives the history of a short
poem, which appeared about this time, under the title of
" The African," in the London papers, and which was the
joint production of himself and of Mr. Roscoe. It has also
been printed in Mrs. Riddell's " Metrical Miscellany," under
the title of " Maraton."

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 77

not unsuccessfully. In his poem of " Mount
Pleasant," which, though written in the year
1771, was not published till the year 1777, he
did not hesitate to brand with the opprobrium
it merited, the traffic in which so large a portion
of his fellow townsmen were engaged.

" There Afric's swarthy sons their toils repeat,
Beneath the fervors of the noon-tide heat ;
Torn from each joy that crown'd their native soil,
No sweet reflections mitigate their toil :
From morn to eve by rigorous hands opprest,
Dull fly their hours, of every hope unblest,
Till broke with labour, helpless and forlorn,
From their weak grasp the lingering morsel torn,
The feed-built hovels' friendly shade denied,
The jest of folly and the scorn of pride;
Drooping beneath meridian suns they lie,
Lift the faint head, and bend the imploring eye,
Till death in kindness from the tortured breast
Calls the free spirit to the realms of rest.

Shame to mankind ! but shame to Britons most,
Who all the sweets of Liberty can boast ;
Yet, deaf to every human claim, deny
That bliss to others which themselves enjoy ;
Life's bitter draught with harsher bitter fill,
Blast every joy, and add to every ill ;
The trembling limbs with galling iron bind,
Nor loose the heavier bondage of the mind."

The writings of many excellent men, about
this period, had attracted the attention of the
public to the momentous question of the slave
trade. Dr. Beattie, in his " Essay on Truth ;"
Wesley, in his " Thoughts on Slavery ; " Adam
Smith, in his " Wealth of Nations ;" and Paley,

78 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

in his " Moral Philosophy ; " had exposed the
cruelty, the injustice, and the impolicy of the
traffic. Denunciations of its unchristian spirit
began to be heard from the pulpit ; and the
question was brought before the legislature in
the year 1776, by Mr. David Hartley, the mem-
ber for Hull. The opponents of the traffic, at
length, in the year 1787* united themselves toge-
ther for the purpose of rendering their opposi-
tion more effective ; and a committee was formed
in London, which met weekly, for the purpose
of considering the best means of procuring the
abolition of the trade.

To promote the same great object, Mr. Roscoe
took up his pen ; and, in the summer of 1787,
published the first part of the " Wrongs of
Africa," a poem designed to awaken the feelings
of the people to the horrors of the slave system.
The profits of this poem were presented by
Mr. Roscoe to the London committee, through
his friend, Mr. John Barton, a member of that
body. " This circumstance," observes Mr.
Clarkson, in his " History of the Abolition of
the Slave Trade*," was not only agreeable, in-
asmuch as it showed us that there were others
who felt with us for the injured Africans, and
who were willing to aid us in our designs ; but
it was rendered still more so, when we were

* Vol. i. p. 280.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 79

given to understand that the poem was written
by Mr. Roscoe, of Liverpool, and the preface to
it by the late Dr. Currie, who then lived in the
same place. To find friends to our cause rising
up from such a quarter, where we expected
scarcely any thing but opposition, was parti-
cularly encouraging."

The first part of " The Wrongs of Africa"
was intended to illustrate the mode of procuring
slaves on the coast of that country. The manner
in which the captives were obtained, by wars or
by domestic treachery, is described ; and the
cruelties and privations to which they were sub-
jected, are painted in strong colours. Through-
out the poem, that love of freedom, that inex-
tinguishable hatred of oppression, are displayed,
which were such signal features of the writer's
character : —

" Dear to the heart is Freedom's generous flame,
And dear the exulting glow that warms the soul,
When struggling virtue from the tyrant's grasp
Indignant rushes and asserts her rights.'

The following passage, in which the writer
endeavours to show that, even in savage life,
the natural affections exert their full influence,
may be considered as affording a fair specimen
of the poem : —

" Nor yet unknown to more refined delights,
Nor to the soft and social feelings lost,
Was the swart African : wherever man
Erects his dwelling, whether on the bleak

80 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

And frozen cliffs of Zambia's northern coast,
Or in meridian regions, Love attends
And shares his habitation ; in his train
Come fond affections, come endearing joys,
And confidence, and tenderness, and truth.
For not to polish'd life alone confined
Are these primeval blessings, rather there
Destroy 'd or injured; mercenary ties
There bind ill-suited tempers ; avarice there,
And pride, and lowering superstition, cross
The tender union ; but where nature reigns,
And universal freedom, Love exults
As in his native clime ; there aims secure
His brightest arrow, steep'd in keen delights,
To cultured minds and colder skies unknown."

In the following year (1788) appeared the
second part of the " Wrongs of Africa ; " the sub-
ject of which is, the voyage of the slaves to the
West Indian islands. The description of the
dwelling of Matomba, the guardian of Cymbello,
a native prince, who is captured and carried
away, is a proof that, at this period, Mr. Roscoe
had become attached to botanical pursuits.

" Remote from peopled haunts, 'midst silent groves,
Where palms and plantains intermix'd their shade,
And spread their broad leaves to the scorching sun,
Matomba's dwelling stood. — A crystal stream
Gush'd from the gloom and lav'd a chosen spot,
That own'd his constant culture : Aloes there
Shot forth their vigorous stems, and hung their bells
In graceful negligence ; Haemanthus spread
His crimson bloom ; the flowery Almond there,
Profuse of fragrance, scented all the plain ;
And the gay Protea waved his silvery leaf,
And glitter'd on the day ; — a thousand plants

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 81

The favourites of the sun, whose vivid tints
Decay, and sicken, in our northern climes,
There in perennial lustre smiled, nor fear'd
The chilling blasts of Eurus."

The captive Cymbello is visited by Despair,
and the personification of that power is declared,
by Dr. Currie, to be " one of the most sublime
thoughts in modern poetry."*

" Torn by conflicting passions, barr'd from air,
With taunts and stripes insulted, and compell'd
To share the anguish of desponding throngs
That hourly cursed existence, soon began
His vigour to decline, and on her throne
Sat Reason tottering. Sleep refused to close
His eyes, that gazing wild with maniac glare
Froze in their sockets — when before their orbs
Rose a majestic form, that, not confined
Within the ship's scant boundary, rear'd her head
Amidst the rolling clouds. Her right hand held
A falchion dropping blood, and in her left
A heart yet palpitating shock'd the sight.
Dreadful she smiled, yet in her dreadful smile
Lurk'd fascination : horrid was her voice,
Yet did it vibrate on the wretch's ear
Sweeter than music. ' Prince,' she cried, ' I come
To free from weak regret thy manly mind,
And vindicate thy wrongs. To deeds of death
Rise then! my steel shall point the way.' She spoke,
And clasp'd him to her bosom. Through his frame
Ran fierce emotions of tumultuous joy ;
He spurn'd the fond complaint ; no more the sigh
Burst from his heart ; his eyes forgot to weep ;
Ambition now was hush'd ; the patriot Hope
Expired ; and Love himself the rule resign'd
To one unbounded thirst of dread revenge."

* Memoirs, vol. i. p. 135.
VOL. I. G

82 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

The opinions expressed with regard to this
poem, both privately and publicly, were very
gratifying to the author. His friend Mr. Barton,
who had superintended it as it passed through
the press, thus spoke of it: — " I have at last
got the second part, which, to say the least of
it, will not disappoint the expectations raised by
the first part. I think the poet evidently im-
proves as he advances, and I hope nothing will
prevent his going further. To me the language
and thoughts appear to flow with greater ease,
without the smallest diminution of boldness or
energy. I have never been more pleased or
affected by any poetical production whatever,
and (all compliments out of the question) I
must say, I cannot but feel a pride in calling
such an author my friend."

" The Wrongs of Africa" were subsequently
translated into German, as Mr. Roscoe learned,
upwards of twenty years after its publication,
from the following letter : — "I shall beg leave,"
says his correspondent, Mr. Johnson, " to men-
tion another circumstance which I hope will be,
in some degree, interesting to you, as it will
show you that Germans of literary celebrity
have thought themselves well employed in ren-
dering into their native tongue the least im-
portant of your works. During my residence
at Leipsic, I became acquainted with a clergy-
man of the name of Kiihn, who showed me

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 83

the manuscript of a poem which has since been
published ; it was a translation of an English
poem in two parts, entitled * The Wrongs of
Africa ;' and although I had not read the ori-
ginal, I easily recognised the author. I was
sorry to find, on my arrival in England, that the
poem had never been completed, as otherwise I
should have sent the conclusion to my friend, as
I had promised."

But it was not in verse alone that Mr. Roscoe
raised his voice against the continuance of a sys-
tem so injurious to the interests of humanity as
the African slave trade. In the winter of 1787
he published a short pamphlet, entitled " A
General View of the African Slave Trade, de-
monstrating its Injustice and Impolicy ; with
Hints towards a Bill for its Abolition." * In this
pamphlet Mr. Roscoe considers the subject in
two points of view : first, with respect to its
justice or iniquity ; and secondly, with respect
to its political advantages or disadvantages to this
country : and that he did not altogether fail in
establishing his arguments, may be inferred from
the following observations of Dr. Currie, who,
though a sincere friend to the abolition of
the trade, yet regarded with a cool and dis-
passionate judgment the efforts of those who

* London : printed for R. Faulder, New Bond Street,
1788. One thousand copies of this pamphlet were printed.

84} LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

were labouring in the cause.* "A pamphlet
has just appeared, entitled ' A General View of
the African Slave Trade, with Hints towards a
Bill for its Abolition/ which puts the subject in
a very clear point of view, and contains a brief,
but masterly, chain of propositions that bear
irresistible force. I recommend it to your pe-
rusal. The moderation of its language is likely
to make it useful." t Mde. Necker, whose zeal
for liberty led her to interest herself in the
sufferings of the Africans, appears to have en-
tertained the idea of translating this work into
French. " On the subject of the Slave Trade,"
says Mr. Barton, in a letter to Mr. Roscoe, " I
have nothing new to communicate, except that
one of the London Committee has lately been in
France, and dined at Paris with the committee
established in that place with the same views as
our own. Our friend says, the committee appears
to consist of very worthy and respectable cha-
racters, and that they are very much in earnest
to bring about the reformation we wish for. He
particularly mentioned the zeal of Mde. Necker
in this great business, and her intentions of pub-
lishing some tracts on the subject, so soon as she
could obtain leave for that purpose, which is a
confirmation of the account received at Liver-

* See his Letter to Mr. Wilberforce, in the second volume
of his Memoirs.

f Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 51.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 85

pool of her having been translating the * General
View.' ' From another of Mr. Barton's letters,
it appears that the pamphlet excited considerable
attention in Liverpool. " I rejoice," says he,
" to find that thy pamphlet has occasioned a
ferment amongst the African merchants at
Liverpool, and I trust it will occasion a ferment
amongst our senators likewise, and produce the
conviction we so much wish them to feel."

The " General View of the African Slave
Trade" had not been many months before the
public, when Mr. Roscoe found himself again
called upon for fresh exertions in the same cause.
The Rev. Raymond Harris, a clergyman of the
Church of England, who had been educated for
the Catholic priesthood, published, under the title
of " Scriptural Researches on the Licitness of the
Slave Trade," a work which was intended to
tranquillise the consciences of those who carried
on the traffic, by representing slavery as a system
approved of by God. He proposed to show " its
conformity writh the principles of natural and
revealed religion, as delineated in the sacred
writings of the Word of God." This bold attempt
to degrade the noblest of all the attributes of the
Deity, — his justice and his mercy, — met with
many admirers. " Even people," says Mr. Bar-
ton, in the same letter from which an extract has
been made above, " the least likely to be in-
fluenced in their own judgments by arguments

o 3

86 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

drawn from this quarter, have yet shown a won-
derful desire to have such arguments pass for solid
with others. I am assured that Lord Hawkes-
bury himself condescended to distribute some of
Harris's * Scriptural Researches,' recommending
them at the same time as containing unanswer-
able arguments in favour of the slave trade."

Other persons, who felt that the interests both
of religion and of humanity must suffer from a
publication like this, were filled with indignation
at its appearance. Dr. Currie, whose temperate
mind and well-balanced feelings seldom permitted
him to use harsh expressions, thus speaks of it : —
"A little scoundrel, a Spanish Jesuit, has ad-
vanced to the assistance of the slave-merchants,
and has published a vindication of this traffic
from the Old Testament. His work is extolled
as a prodigy by these judges of composition,
and is, in truth, no bad specimen of his talents,
though egregiously false and sophistical, as all
justifications of slavery must be. I have prompted
a clergyman, a friend of mine, to answer him,
by telling him, that if such be religion, I would
« none on V*

The reply to the " Scriptural Researches"
might with great propriety have proceeded from
a minister of religion, though it did not require
any very considerable knowledge of divinity to

» Memoirs of Dr. Currie, vol. i. p. 135.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 87

refute arguments derived from an authority so
obviously misapplied. The zeal of Mr. Roscoe,
however, did not permit him to wait until
others engaged in the contest ; and, in the sum-
mer of 1788, he sent to the press " A Scrip-
tural Refutation of a Pamphlet lately published
by the Rev. Raymond Harris, entitled ' Scrip-
tural Researches on the Licitness of the Slave
Trade/ in Four Letters from the Author to a
Friend."* As an argumentative piece, this pam-
phlet may certainly be considered as fully equal
to any of the productions of Mr. Roscoe's pen ;
nor could a more full and satisfactory answer to
the sophisms of his antagonist have been wished
for by the friends of the abolition. The work
immediately attracted the attention of the Lon-
don Abolition Committee, a member of which
addressed to Mr. Barton the following letter on
the subject: —

" At the desire of our committee, I have to
request, that thou wouldst, with as much expe-
dition as possible, communicate to the author
of the Scriptural Refutation, &c. of Harris, their
wishes to take off what remains of the impression
(on his own terms of course), and in case that
should not be sufficiently numerous for their
purpose, they request the author's leave to print
a new edition. I beseech thee lose no time."

* London : printed for B. Law, Ave Maria Lane, Ludgate
Street. 1788.

o 4

88 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

In the letter from Mr. Barton, communicating
this request, he says, " On my return from
Brighton, I had the pleasure to receive a parcel,
* from the Author,' containing six pamphlets,
in answer to Harris. I immediately perused one
of them myself, and gave the others to some of
the most intelligent members of our committee,
and we are all unanimously of opinion, that it is
the work of a master, and by much the best
answer that Harris has received." The wishes
of the committee were immediately complied
with by Mr. Roscoe ; and the thanks of that
body were transmitted to him in the following
letter from Mr. Barton : —

" Immediately on receipt of thy favour of the
5th, I communicated the contents (so far as
they related to the * Scriptural Refutation') to
the committee in London, who were much
pleased with the offer made to them, and very
happy to accept of it. The following is an ex-
tract from their minutes : —

" ' At a Committee of the Society for effect-
ing the Abolition of the Slave Trade, July 15.
1788.

" ' This Committee, impressed with a sense of
the laudable zeal, and great abilities, manifested
by the author of " A Scriptural Refutation of
a pamphlet, entitled Scriptural Researches on
the Licitness of the Slave Trade," do gratefully
accept his offer, and request Mr. Barton to con-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 89

vey to him the thanks of the Committee, for the
important service he has rendered the cause in
which they are engaged.'

" I was not in town myself at the time of
this meeting, nor have been since (nor do I
know when I shall be again), therefore I have
not seen the committee books ; but, I suppose,
this minute must have been preceded by another,
in which the particulars of the offer made by the
author would be stated.

" The Committee ordered a new edition, at
the same time, which I should imagine must ere
this be completed ; so that the circulation of
this pamphlet will very soon be general over
every part of the kingdom, and I trust its utility
will be as great as its circulation will be exten-
sive. All who have read it, that I have yet
met with, speak of it in terms of the highest
commendation ; and many are the enquiries and
conjectures respecting its author."

The insurrection of the negroes in the Island
of St. Domingo, in the year 1791 » having been
made use of as an argument against the pro-
ceedings of the Abolitionists in this country,
Mr. Roscoe was induced to examine this ques-
tion with attention, and the result of his enquiry
was given to the public in a short tract, entitled
" An Inquiry into the Causes of the Insurrection
of the Negroes in the Island of St. Domingo ;
to which are added, Observations of M. Garran-

90 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

Coulon on the same subject, read in his absence
by Guadet, before the National Assembly, Fe-
bruary 29. 1792." * The particular object of this
pamphlet was to review the account of the In-
surrection, given in the speech of the Deputies
from the General Assembly of St. Domingo to
the National Assembly ; in which the origin of
the calamity was charged upon the Amis des
Noirs, " by which name," it is said, in the En-
glish translation of the speech, " is distinguished
in France, the party that have seconded the
English project for abolishing the Slave Trade."

A more dreadful and appalling picture of
aggravated cruelty and atrocity, than the speech
of the Deputies exhibits, can scarcely be con-
ceived. Murder, and violence of every kind,
were remorselessly committed, not only upon
the persons of the whites, but upon such of the
negroes as remained faithful to their masters,
who were frequently put to death by the slow
torture of fire. Such were the acts which the
Deputies from St. Domingo accused "the Friends
of the Blacks" with having caused in the island ;
and such were the consequences which the
enemies of the abolition in England predicted, as
the result of their adversaries' labours in our
own colonies.

Those who regarded these dreadful scenes

* London: J.Johnson. 1792.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 91

with a calmer and more philosophical eye, be-
held in them only the inevitable consequences
of slavery: — " Are these enormities," says Mr.
Roscoe, " to be lamented ? Surely they are.
Can they excite our wonder ? By no means.
What is the state of the labouring negro ? Is he
not a being bound down by force ? Labouring
under constant compulsion? Driven to com-
plete his task by the immediate discipline of the
whip? Are affection, lenity, and forbearance,
the result of oppression and abuse ? When the
native ferocity of Africa is sharpened by the
keen sense of long-continued injury, who shall
set bounds to revenge ?

But it was not alone from the fierce teach-
ings of their own clime, that the negroes derived
their lessons of blood. The white man had
added his terrible instructions.

" Again," adds Mr. Iloscoe, " how have the
fierce dispositions of savage life been counter-
acted or improved by the example of their white
superiors ? Resistance is always justifiable where
force is the substitute of right : nor is the com-
mission of a civil crime possible in a state of
slavery. Yet the punishments that have been
devised in the French islands, to repress crimes
that could only exist by the abuse of the slave-
holder, are such as nature revolts at. How often
have these unfortunate beings beheld their fel-
lows beat, in famine and distraction, the bars of

92 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

an iron cage, in which they were doomed to
pass, in inconceivable misery, the last days of
their existence? Is it not known that, in these
wretched islands, a human being has resigned
his life in the torments of a slow-consuming fire ?
An unavenged instance of an act so awfully
atrocious marks out for perdition the country
that could suffer it. When the oppressor thus
enforces his authority, what must be the effect
of the sufferer's resentment ?

Other instances were not wanting to urge
the Negro upon the track of blood. " Yet the
Negro had other examples before his eyes. A
dissension had arisen amongst the holders of the
slaves : those who were before united in op-
pressing them, were now at variance among
themselves. They had proceeded to open vio-
lence ; whilst the slaves awaited the event with
silence, though not with indifference. One party
obtained an early superiority : the leader of the
weaker number was taken ; and the Negroes
were spectators of the death of Oge, a man, who
partook of their colour, and who was broken
alive upon the wheel. Twenty-five of his follow-
ers shared the same fate. If the cold-blooded
sons of Europe, educated in the habits of im-
proved society, and affecting to feel the precepts
of a mild and merciful religion, can thus forget
themselves and insult their own nature, ought
they to wonder that the African should imitate

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 93

the pattern, and, if possible, improve upon their
example?"

Amongst the atrocities detailed by the De-
puties, are the two following instances : —

" At Great River, an inhabitant, M. Cardineau,
had two natural sons of colour, to whom he had
given their liberty, and who, in their childhood,
had been the objects of his tenderest care. They
accost him, with a pistol at his breast, and de-
mand his money. He consents ; but no sooner
have they obtained it, than they stab him.

" At Acul, M. Chauvet de Breuil, Deputy
to the General Assembly, is assassinated by a
Mulatto, aged sixteen, his natural son, to whom
he destined his fortune, having manumitted him
from his childhood."

Upon these transactions, Mr. Roscoe makes
the following remarks : —

" But the horrors of the slaughter increase.
The white father falls a victim to the unnatural
rage of his Mulatto son. Have human crimes
their origin and causes in human affairs ; or are
they incited by some malignant demon, who
possessing himself of that cup of affection, the
human heart, pours out its contents, and fills it
with poison ? Alas ! we vainly seek, in fable, the
apology of our own depravity ; and, unhappily,
the causes of those transactions, which would
scarce meet credibility in any other part of the
globe, are in these regions of guilt too apparent.

94 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

However the Author of nature may have in-
stilled affection into the breast of a parent, as
the means of preserving the race from destruc-
tion, we must allow, that the corresponding
sentiment in the mind of the offspring is merely
the effect of a long-continued course of care,
partiality, and tenderness. Shall the harvest,
then, rise up without seed ? and where no fond-
ness has been shown, shall filial attachments be
expected? In a country, where it is by no
means unusual for the known children of the
planter to undergo all the hardships and the
ignominy of slavery, in common with the most
degraded class of mortals, is it there we are to
seek for instances of filial affection?"

What must be thought of that condition of
society, which, if we may believe the Deputies
themselves, reverses all the feelings of the human
breast ? " The slaves," say they, " who had
been most kindly treated by their masters, were
the soul of the insurrection. It was they who
betrayed and delivered their humane masters to
the assassin's sword ; it was they who seduced
and stirred up to revolt the gangs disposed to
fidelity. It was they who massacred whomso-
ever refused to become their accomplice. What
a lesson for the Amis des Noirs!"

" Upon this part of the address," says Mr. Ros-
coe, "reflections still occur, in which the planter
is deeply interested. An opinion is thus incul-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 9«5

cated, which, if acceded to, and acted upon,
must render the islands a constant scene of
cruelty and bloodshed. We are told, that the
slaves who had been most kindly treated by their
masters were the soul of the insurrection ; that
it was they who had betrayed and delivered their
humane masters to the assassin's sword, and
seduced and stirred up to revolt the gangs dis-
posed to fidelity. Hear this, ye planters ! and if
there be one amongst you so singularly foolish
as to harbour a lurking sentiment of humanity,
let him for his own safety divest himself of it
without loss of time! The Negro is a being,
whose nature and dispositions are not merely
different from those of the European, they are
the reverse of them. Kindness and compassion
excite in his breast implacable and deadly hatred;
but stripes, and insult, and abuse, generate gra-
titude, affection, and inviolable attachments!
Upon this principle, we are enabled to reconcile
an apparent inconsistency in the address. * Slaves,'
we are informed, ' were still found, who gave
proofs of an invincible fidelity ; and who made
manifest their determination to detest the seduc-
tion of those, who would, with promises of liberty,
inveigle them to certain destruction.' If the
humanity of the master only sharpens the appe-
tite of revenge, is it difficult to discover by what
mode of treatment the friendship of these slaves
was secured ? Be grateful, ye planters, to the

96 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

man, who has at length disclosed this important
truth ; and admire his courage who has dared to
avow it, even in the bosom of a nation devoted
to liberty ! "

In perusing this pamphlet, the reader will be
but too forcibly reminded of similar calamities
which have recently occurred in our own colo-
nies, and which have been in the same manner
attributed, not to their true cause, the demo-
ralising and debasing nature of slavery, but to
the interference of the abolitionists. The con-
cluding observations of the writer are as appli-
cable at the present moment as on the day when
they were written.

" If, however, no conclusions can be drawn
from the history of these disorders, either to
impeach the promoters of the abolition of the
Slave Trade, or to deter the British Parliament
from duly considering, and fully deciding on,
that important measure, it will afford instruction
of a different nature. Nourished in inveterate,
and it will be feared irremediable, prejudices, it
may show us, that the colonists are not the best
judges even of their own interests ; it may
apprise us of the danger of sacrificing general
principles of substantial justice to variable and
temporising expedients ; it may demonstrate to
us, that the preservation of our own islands
from similar disasters, depends on the early adop-
tion of measures, which, whilst they are vigorous

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 97

and decisive, are just, conciliatory, and humane ;
and may caution us, that, where we choose not
to impart the beamings of hope, we excite not
the ragings of despair."

The merit of this pamphlet, in its application
of general principles to particular cases, is re-
marked by Mr. Rathbone, in a letter to Mr. Ros-
coe, written many years after its publication : —
" I have been reading some other of your pub-
lications lately, and am struck with the ability
and address with which you introduce general
principles ; and this is a talent of unspeakable
value. They leave an impression, and apply to
other subjects than those which gave them birth.
* * * Your account of the causes of the insurrec-
tions in St. Domingo is full of these general
principles. It is, in my opinion, your great
forte ; and I earnestly advise you to cultivate it."

VOL. I.

CHAPTER IV.

1788—1796.

Motives which led Mr. Roscoe to take a part in politics. —
Celebration of the Revolution of 1688 — song on that
occasion. — Commencement of the French Revolution. —
Publication of the " Ode to the People of France"
" Unfold^ Father Time," " O'er the vine-covered hills."

— Progress of the Revolution. — Execution of the
Brissotines. — Letter to Lord Lansdowne. — Publication
of " Strictures on Mr. Burke 's Two Letters." — " The
Life, Death) and wonderful Achievements of Edmund
Burke" — State of parties at Liverpool — public meeting
there. — Address written by Mr. Roscoe. — Singular pro-
ceedings.— Publication of " Thoughts on the Causes of
the present Failures." — The Literary Society — forced
to abandon their meetings. — Letter to Lord Lansdowne.

— Sonnet by the Rev. W. Shepherd. — Visit to London.

— Domestic correspondence. — Count Rantzau — cor-
respondence with him and with the Countess Rantzau. —
Removal of Mr. Roscoe from the town of Liverpool. —
" Inscription" — Removal to Birchfield.

H

CHAPTER IV.

motives by which men are induced to
take an active part in political affairs, are of a
very varied character. In many instances high
birth and party connections lead, as it were na-
turally, into public life. Others, destitute of these
advantages, are allured by the prospects which
ambition opens, or by the hopes of profit which
place affords ; while others, again, are actuated
by the love of popular distinction, — perhaps the
most common feeling which leads men into the
ceaseless anxieties, the ever-recurring disappoint-
ments, and the unthankful duties of political life.
Governed by different motives, a few individuals
are found, who, in their exertions on behalf of
the public, disregard the rewards which power,
place, and popular applause bestow ; satisfied
with the conviction that, in directing their best
efforts to the public good, they have not un-
worthily performed one of the first and most
honourable of human duties. It is to this class
of men alone that a country can look for faithful
counsellors and for zealous servants. It is these
alone, who, in their freedom from all sinister

H S

102 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

interests, and still more from all ill-directed am-
bition, will be neither warped nor misled in the
performance of their lofty duties.

The motives which induced Mr. Roscoe, at
an early age, to take a lively interest, and, so far
as his station in life permitted, an active part in
public affairs, were unmixed with any views of
personal advantage or distinction. The opinions
entertained by him on all the more important
subjects of public discussion were far from find-
ing general favour, even in the eyes of the po-
pulace ; while those who professed them were
avowedly obnoxious to the government, and to
a great proportion of the wealthy and power-
ful part of the community. The advocates of
French principles, as those who ventured to ex-
press liberal opinions were termed, incurred an
odium which it required some fortitude of mind
to withstand ; and no one, who was not a witness
to the state of English society at that period, can
justly appreciate the merit of the persons who
not only retained opinions so generally obnoxious,
but continued publicly to profess them, and to
despise the obloquy to which that profession
gave rise.

Though the theatre of Mr. Roscoe's public
exertions at this period of his life was remote and
confined, it must not therefore be supposed that
to others they were without any useful results, or
that on his own part they demanded no sacrifices.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 103

The town of Liverpool had not, indeed, at that
time, acquired the station in the country which
it now occupies ; but its rapidly increasing im-
portance rendered the opinion of its inhabitants
of some consequence in estimating the general
state of public feeling. In forming and di-
recting that opinion, Mr. Roscoe possessed no
inconsiderable influence ; arising from the re-
spect which his personal character inspired,
and from the general confidence reposed in his
sincerity and integrity. The state of society
in Liverpool was at this time such, that there
were few of its principal inhabitants with whom
he did not enjoy a personal acquaintance ; and
of the opportunities thus afforded him, in public
and in private, of directing the minds of those
around him to just views of political affairs, he
always eagerly availed himself.

The character of his political opinions, which
wrere formed at an early age, resulted from the
mode in which his mind had been cultivated,
and from the absence of that control and super-
intendence, in matter of opinion, to which in ge-
neral the formation of political principles in early
life is owing. His native disposition, therefore,
displayed itself, in an attachment to the principles
of freedom, in an opposition to injustice and op-
pression under every form, and in a zealous and
generous desire to benefit his fellow creatures.

Although the intervals of leisure which he was
H 4

104 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

able to snatch from his daily employments were
usually devoted to literary studies, his mind was
yet actively alive to what was passing in the po-
litical world. The first occasion upon which he
appears to have taken any public part in politics
was on the celebration, in 1788, of the centenary
of the Revolution. Several gentlemen of Liver-
pool having met to commemorate that great
event, Mr. Roscoe formed one of the party ; and
the following lines, written by him, were recited
on the occasion : —

" SECULAR SONG ON THE REVOLUTION OF 1688.

" Since Freedom here fix'd her immutable throne,

A hundred long years wing'd with blessings are past ;

Our fathers the sweets of her favour have known,
But 't is ours to complete the full circle at last :

Then grasp the deep bowl, the full chorus prolong,

To William and Freedom be sacred the song !

" When James, the worst heir of a tyrannous line,
Had trampled on reason, religion, and laws,

Like an angel commission'd by goodness divine,
Then William arose, and asserted our cause ;

Then grasp the deep bowl, the full chorus prolong,

To William and Freedom be sacred the song !

" Could the sons of Britannia, supine and unjust,
Be dead to the transports the season inspires,

The spirits of those who now moulder in dust,
Would speak from their ashes to kindle our fires t

Then grasp the deep bowl, the full chorus prolong,

To William and Freedom be sacred the song !

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 105

" To Nature the boon of existence we owe,

But 't is Liberty crowns it with honour and joy

The worth of her smile by experience we know,
To enjoy it we live, to preserve it we '11 die :

Then grasp the deep bowl, the full chorus prolong,

To William and Freedom be sacred the song !

" Round this altar of Freedom united we bow,
Our libations shall aid her unquenchable flame,

Which here to transmit to our children we vow,
Bright and vivid as when from our fathers it came i

Then grasp the deep bowl, the full chorus prolong,

To William and Freedom be sacred the song ! "

Possessing principles and feelings like these,
it cannot be supposed that Mr. Roscoe witnessed
the commencement of the French Revolution
without sentiments of the most intense interest.
The spectacle of a great nation rising up, as one
man, to regain the station and the happiness from
which it had been debarred by centuries of mis-
government, was one which might well awaken
the sympathies of his heart. Nor was the splen-
dour which surrounded the first efforts of the
French to recover their freedom obscured by any
clouds. In this glory of the first days of their
Revolution it was that Mr. Roscoe dedicated his
muse to the celebration of French liberty. In
the prosecution of his studies he had been struck
with the fine canzone of Petrarch —

" Quel ch' ha nostra natura in se piu degno,"

which seemed susceptible of being applied to
the great struggle for freedom then taking place

106 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

in France ; and he accordingly imitated the
Italian poem in " An Ode to the People of
France," which was published at Liverpool, in
the year 1789. The invocation to Liberty, " Li-
berta ! dolce e desiato bene," is perhaps the most
spirited part of the translation : —

" Freedom ! blest gift, whom none condemn who know;

Dear is thy presence to this world below !

Life vigorous grows where'er thy steps have trod,

And man walks forth the semblance of a God;

If thou be absent, life no joy affords,

Despised its titled pomps, its useless hoards ;

But in thy presence every cottage charms,

And Peace reposes in thy sheltering arms."

At a period long subsequent to the publication
of this Ode, Mr. Roscoe transmitted a copy of it,
together with some other of his works, to Mr.
Fox, who, in a letter to the author, expresses his
admiration of the poem.

The interest which the friends of liberty in
Liverpool felt in the progress of the French Re-
volution was manifested by a meeting held on
the 14th July, 1790, to celebrate the taking of
the Bastile ; on which occasion Mr. Roscoe pro-
duced his well-known song, " Unfold, Father
Time."

" SONG.

" Unfold, Father Time ! thy long records unfold,
Of noble achievements accomplish'd of old,
When men, by the standard of Liberty led,
Undauntedly conquer'd or cheerfully bled ;

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 107

But know, 'midst the triumphs these moments reveal,
Their glories shall fade, and their lustre turn pale;
While France rises up, and confirms the decree
That tears off her chains, and bids millions be free.

" As spring to the fields, or as dew to the flower,

To the earth parch'd with heat as the soft dropping shower;

As health to the wretch that lies languid and wan ;

Or as rest to the weary — is Freedom to man.

Where Freedom the light of her countenance gives,

There only he revels, there only he lives ;

Seize, then, the glad moment, and hail the decree

That bids millions rejoice, and a nation be free !

" Too long had Oppression and Terror entwined
Those fancy-form'd chains that enslave the free mind,
Whilst dark Superstition, with Nature at strife,
Had lock'd up for ages the fountains of life:
But the demons are fled, the delusion is past,
And Reason and Virtue have conquer'd at last ;
Seize, then, the glad moment, and hail the decree
That bids millions rejoice, and a nation be free !

" France ! we share in the rapture thy bosom that fills,
When the spirit of Liberty bounds o'er thy hills ;
Redundant henceforth may thy purple juice flow,
Prouder wave thy green woods, and thy olive trees grow,
For thy brow may the hand of Philosophy twine,
Blest emblems ! the myrtle, the olive, and vine ;
And Heaven through all ages confirm the decree,
That tears off thy chains, and bids millions be free ! "

But the pen of Mr. Roscoe was, in the follow-
ing year, exerted still more successfully in the
composition of his celebrated lines, " O'er the
vine-cover' d hills and gay regions of France," —
a song which, as might be expected from its

108 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

beauty and its animating spirit, immediately be-
came highly popular.

This composition, like the former, was written
for the purpose of being recited on the anni-
versary of the 14th August. Upon that day, in
the year 1791, the riots at Birmingham took
place, and the celebration was afterwards discon-
tinued in Liverpool, as well as in other places.

" O'er the vine-cover'd hills and gay regions of France,

See the day-star of Liberty rise ;
Through the clouds of detraction unsullied advance,

And hold its new course through the skies.
An effulgence so mild, with a lustre so bright,

All Europe with wonder surveys ;
And, from deserts of darkness and dungeons of night,

Contends for a share of the blaze.

" Ah ! who 'midst the horrors of night would abide,

That can breathe the pure breezes of morn ?
Or who, that has drunk the pure crystalline tide,

To the feculent flood would return ?
When the bosom of Beauty the throbbing heart meets,

Ah, who can the transport decline ?
Or who, that has tasted of Liberty's sweets,

The prize but with life would resign ?

" Let Burke like a bat from its splendour retire,

A splendour too strong for his eyes ;
Let pedants and fools his effusions admire,

Entrapt in his cobwebs like flies.
Shall insolent Sophistry hope to prevail

Where Reason opposes her weight,
When the welfare of millions is hung in the scale,

And the balance yet trembles with fate ?

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 109

" But 'tis over — high Heaven the decision approves,

Oppression has struggled in vain,
To the hell she has form'd Superstition removes,

And Tyranny bites his own chain.
In the records of Time a new era unfolds,

All nature exults in its birth ;
His creation benign the Creator beholds,

And gives a new charter to earth. -

" O catch the high import, ye winds, as ye blow ;

O bear it, ye waves, as ye roll,
From regions that feel the sun's vertical glow,

To the farthest extremes of the Pole.
Equal rights, equal laws, to the nations around,

Peace and friendship its precepts impart,
And wherever the footsteps of Man shall be found,

He shall bind the decree on his heart."

As the revolution proceeded, — as the confi-
dence of the people in the sincerity of the king
decreased, — as the passions of various parties
became more and more exasperated, — as the
threats of foreign interference were redoubled,
the aspect of political affairs in France grew
darker and darker. It now became evident that
despotism, amongst its most hateful qualities,
possesses that of rendering those who suffer under
its influence unfit for the wise enjoyment of
freedom, until after a long and too often a san-
guinary education ; — that it is vain to expect
from slaves, the discretion, the forbearance, and
the magnanimity of freemen ; and that the fatal
retribution of the crimes of governments is found
in the madness of the people. The oppression

110 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

of the atmosphere is carried off in lightnings and
in storms, and despotism expires in tumults and
in blood. The crimes of the French revolution
have been by many absurdly charged on those
alone by whose hands they were committed ;
while their governors, who had industriously
extirpated the principles and feelings which
would have prevented such excesses, have been
represented as their martyrs. Time, and calm
reflection, will teach the better lesson, that, to
render a people humane, just, and moderate,
their government must first set them an example
of humanity, of justice, and of moderation.

Those who, like Mr. Roscoe, had witnessed
with delight the birth of freedom in France, and
watched anxiously over its cradle, — who had
looked for peace, and happiness, and improve-
ment, as the great results of the revolution,
beheld with grief and dismay the alarming vicis-
situdes of its progress. The last hope of the
friends of France seemed to expire on the scaf-
fold of the Brissotines.

It was soon after this event, the intelligence
of which he received with the deepest emotion,
that the following letter was addressed by Mr.
Roscoe to the late Marquis of Lansdowne : —

" The event which has pressed upon me with
more weight than almost any other I ever as yet
experienced, either of a public or private nature,
is the execution of the Deputies in France, —

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. Ill

men whom I had long been accustomed to look
up to as the best friends of their country and of
mankind ; and for whom, if affection be acquired
without a personal acquaintance, I may say I
had a real esteem. Of these men, Verniaux was
the most particular object of my regard. He
seems to have possessed a grandeur and sub-
limity of imagination, coupled with an accuracy
of judgment, beyond any of his associates; and
if ever the love of his country was apparent in
any man, it was so in him. In lamenting the
fate of these great men, I cannot, however, for-
get their errors, which, I am convinced, they
themselves discovered when too late. Their
graves were dug on the 10th of August, and the
2d of September passed their sentence. The
remainder of their lives was a struggle to repair
either their mistake in assenting to, or their
want of energy in resisting, the violence that
then took place. Fatal day ! that overthrew the
labour of years, and placed the fortunes of the
human race on the chance of a die. Surely,
nothing less than absolute despotism can admit
of the application of the principle of force.

" Wherever the sense of a whole community
can be peaceably taken, the insurrection of a
part is treason. This forms the distinction be-
tween the destroyers of the Bastile and the
heroes of the 10th of August, or their rivals of
the 2d of September.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

" As to the great point which the French
think they have gained by the destruction of
their monarchy, I think it of little consequence ;
not that I am become a believer in the maxim,
that * whate'er is best administered is best,'
but because I think that a monarchy is capable
of being as well constituted for the happiness of
a people as a republic. And though, I hope,
not superstitious, I cannot help thinking that
the voluntary and solemn oath of a whole nation,
to abide by a constitution which they took three
years in framing, ought, if there be any thing
serious or binding in human affairs, to have some
weight. I will not trouble your Lordship with
my feelings on the conduct of the French rulers
subsequent to this shocking event. The horrid
industry employed in the discovery of the other
proscribed Deputies, the deliberate mockery of
their trial, and the bloody indifference of the
people at large, on the execution of such men as
Rabaut, who first rescued them from despotism,
freezes my affections, and gives me a dislike, not
only to the French, but to my species. Sorry
am I to say, that this dislike is not much re-
moved by any thing I can see in my own coun-
try, where the same selfish and slavish spirit that
has contributed to bring on the enormities of
France is apparent in the prosecution of all those
who aim, by a cool, rational, and deliberate re-
form, to prevent a similar catastrophe here. With

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 113

what face can our present administration com-
mit Thomas Muir to the hulks, preparatory to
his transportation to Botany Bay, when it is
apparent to all the nation, that if he has been
guilty, Mr. Pitt and the Duke of Richmond
ought to accompany him ? But the leaders have
apostatised, and the disciples perish. This is
enough. The founders of a sect become its
persecutors ! To whom shall we compare those
who punish what they have themselves endea-
voured to promote ?

" I cannot conceive what can be the views of
the people assembled in Edinburgh, under the
name of the British Convention ; but the whole
is so ill-timed, and so ill-conducted, that I should
easily be persuaded it was intended to bring
additional odium on the cause of reform, did I
not know, that one person appeared amongst
them whose motives are beyond suspicion. I
mean Lord Daer, whom I have seen in Liver-
pool, and whose heart, I am sure, is right. Why
has he committed himself in such a business,
and nipt his usefulness in the bud ? Great harm
has been done by the doctrine, so industriously
inculcated by a sect of which I am a professing
member, that whatever is ultimately right is to
be pursued at all times. Perhaps, however, this
arises rather from a misapprehension of the pre-
cept, than from the precept itself. It might be
admitted in its general purport, but then, what-

VOL. I. I

114 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

ever is right is always to be sought for by means
likely to obtain it, and not by such as can di-
rectly tend only to the injury of the cause, and
the ruin of the individual. If I wish for a pros-
perous voyage, I must wait for the wind and
the tide ; but if I resolve to attempt it in spite
of both, I become the unpitied cause of my own
destruction."

As the atrocities of the Revolution increased,
it became the fashion in this country to attribute
their origin, not to the degraded and servile state
in which the people had been so long plunged,
but to the operation of those principles upon
which the Revolution itself was founded ; as
though freedom and equal laws produced no-
thing but oppression ; justice and public order
nothing but confusion ; and peace and good-
will the most barbarous and bloody actions.
Amongst the foremost advocates of this doctrine
stood Mr. Burke, who, wholly abandoning the
guidance of his reason, laboured to inflame the
passions of his countrymen, till he almost made
his own madness theirs. Every principle, by
which the freedom and happiness of man in
civil society can be protected or vindicated, was
unhesitatingly denounced ; while those who
professed such principles were pointed out for
proscription. His Thoughts on the French Re-
volution were followed by his Two Letters
addressed to a Member of the present Parliament ;

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 115

in which the war he had waged with the prin-
ciples of the Revolution in France was extended
to those opinions at home. Eighty thousand
converts in this country were stated to have
imbibed the dangerous doctrine, and to have
become " pure Jacobins, utterly incapable of
amendment." To stem this fatal tide of rebel-
lion, infidelity, and anarchy, and to prevent the
least approach towards pacific sentiments, was
the object of the " Two Letters." To that
publication, Mr. Roscoe, in the year 1796, sent
to the press a brief answer, under the title of
" Strictures on Mr. Burke's Two Letters, ad-
dressed to a Member of the present Parlia-
ment."* In this pamphlet, after remarking upon
the exaggerations of Mr. Burke's statements, he
exposes the real object of his writings, — the ex-
termination of liberal principles, — an act not to
be accomplished by the means recommended by
Mr. Burke.

" Let us endeavour to prevent the rising of
the sun, or to stay the swelling of the ocean,
for the material world is, in some degree, subject
to the control of mechanical force ; but the
intellectual world scoffs at the weak attempt
which would limit its operations by the coarse
and clumsy restrictions of bolts and chains."

The principal part of the tract is directed to

* This pamphlet is reprinted in the " Occasional Tracts
on the War." London. 1810.

I 2

116 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOK.

the subject of peace, with the view of showing
that the French nation had not been, and was
not, averse to a pacification, and that the interests
of both countries would be secured by the ter-
mination of the war. The pamphlet concludes
with the following remarks upon Mr. Burke's
political character : —

" It is wonderfully, and, no doubt, wisely di-
rected by the Author of nature, that from the
same soil and climate from which some plants
draw their healthful and nutritive juices, others
collect a poison the most destructive to the
human race. It would seem, too, as if the
human character displayed a similar diversity,
and that some were intended by a natural rec-
titude and benevolence of disposition to select,
from surrounding circumstances, causes of peace,
charity, and good-will, whilst others can deduce
from the same circumstances only the motives
of hatred, envy, jealousy, and destruction.
Wherever the latter disposition appears, there
is no proceeding so open and generous, no
transaction so honest, no purpose so virtuous,
as not to afford food for its malignity. With
whatever it comes in contact, it appropriates it
by a kind of chemical affinity to its own na-
ture ; and if it does not find, creates, in every
thing around it, gall and bitterness. I shall not
press on my reader the application of these
remarks ; but I confess it has always appeared

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 117

to me extraordinary, that the same man, who
persevered during a long course of years, in in-
stigating the people of America to resistance
against this country, and, by measures which in
these days would infallibly have brought him to
the bar of a criminal court, encouraged them to
the defence of their independence, should, when
a similar circumstance occurred in France, and
when there was every reason to presume this
great and desirable event might be accomplished
without contention and without bloodshed, have
excited a general outcry against the attempt.

" That the cases of America and France are
exactly similar will not indeed be pretended ;
but the difference between them was such, as,
upon all reasonable grounds, should have re-
doubled the energies of his mind in favour of
the latter. If the actuating principle of Mr.
Burke had been a generous and disinterested
love of liberty, it is not possible that he should
have beheld the rising efforts of the people of
France with the obliquity of jealousy, or the
frown of hostility ; nay, it is not possible that he
should not have felt that prepossession in their
favour, that solicitude for their success, which
in the early part of the Revolution agitated the
bosom of those who had been his associates in
the cause of freedom : but, when the moment
of decision arrived, —

' 'T was then, O shame ! O trust, how ill repaid ! ' —
I 3

118 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

he, with a perversity without precedent in the
annals of apostasy, seized the operative moment
to pour his drug into the healthful mass, and it
curdled into poison. From that instant, his ex-
ertions to prolong, and by all possible methods
to increase, the calamities of the war which he
had excited, have been unremitting and suc-
cessful ; and lest some more fortunate com-
bination of circumstances, some returning gleam
of human commiseration for human sufferings,
should lead the contending parties to listen to
the voice of reconciliation, he sedulously collects
the ingredients of discord from every passing
transaction, and hoards up the phial of his
vengeance till the moment when it is most
likely to produce its effect. Ardent and im-
passioned in the cause of freedom in America,
whilst the assertion of that freedom led to con-
tention and blood, equally impassioned against
the liberties of France, and prolonging by every
means in his power the duration of the war, his
character acquires a degree of consistency which
his opponents have unjustly refused to his pre-
tensions. Tros Tyriusve, it is not the cause
that interests him. Alternately the advocate of
liberty or despotism, just as his support or his
opposition may serve to keep alive the flames
of discord, he acts up to the constitution of his
nature, and in the economy of the moral world
performs an unwelcome, but, perhaps, a neces-
sary part."

LIFE OF WILLIAM HOSCOE. 1 19

Aware that ridicule is sometimes as effectual
a weapon as argument, Mr. Roscoe attacked the
opinions of Burke in verse as well as in prose.
In the year 1791 he wrote and printed a ballad,
containing " The Life, Death, and wonderful
Achievements of Edmund Burke," which he
accompanied by a frontispiece etched by him-
self*, representing Burke armed like a knight-
errant, assailing Mr. Fox in the House of
Commons.

" Full tilt he ran at all he met,

And round he dealt his knocks,
Till with a backward stroke at last,
He hit poor Charley Fox.

" Now Charley was, of all his friends,

The warmest friend he had ;
So when he felt this graceless blow,
He deem'd the man was mad.

" With grief his generous bosom rose,

A grief too great to hide ;
And as the stroke was somewhat hard,
He sat him down and cried.

" But not a whit did Edmund feel ;

For at his friend he flew,
Resolved, before the neighbours round,
To beat him black and blue.

* " I was unluckily out of town," says Fuseli, in a letter
to Mr. Roscoe, " when your letter came with the enclosed
bill and ballad. The ballad has some admirable stanzas,
but I like the tune of the bill still better. Your modesty
is great in thinking you could not have etched as well as the
frontispiece."

i 4

120 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

" Then Charles indignant started up,

The meagre form he took,

And with a giant's awful grasp

His rusty armour shook.

" Oh, have ye seen a mastiff strong

A shivering lap-dog tear ? —
Then may ye judge how Edmund did,
When claw'd by Charles, appear."

Amidst the anxieties which every friend of
freedom experienced with regard to the issue of
public affairs on the Continent, the state of
political feeling at home was such as to cause
the most serious apprehensions. The govern-
ment and the more wealthy and powerful part
of the community, alarmed at the progress of
opinions which aimed, as they imagined, at the
overthrow of the settled institutions of the coun-
try, regarded with a timid jealousy the move-
ments of their opponents. The lower orders,
whose prejudices and ignorance suffered them
to be easily misled, were prompted to acts of
violence against those whom they were taught
to view as the enemies of the king and of the
constitution. The feelings of all classes of the
nation were roused to a state of excitement
which threatened the most dangerous conse-
quences, and the fever of the public mind was
designedly heightened by the government itself.
The apprehensions of the weak and the passions
of the violent were confirmed by a proclamation,
representing, in strong colours, the dangers to

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 121

which the nation was exposed by treasonable
and seditious designs, and exhorting all persons
to make diligent enquiry after the authors of
the wicked and seditious writings which were
disseminated over the country. The friends of
the government were not slow in answering the
appeal thus made to them, and loyal addresses
to the king were poured in from every quarter.

In the town of Liverpool the loyal party, as
they termed themselves, were not idle. The
mayor of the borough, Mr. Tarleton (a younger
brother of Sir Banastre Tarleton), desirous of
distinguishing himself by his zeal, caused the
celebrated charge of Mr. Justice Ashurst, and
the address of the London Association, to be
reprinted and circulated through the town. To
counteract the effect of these papers, several
persons, whose principles were regarded as ultra-
liberal, formed themselves into a society, and
published their resolutions in one of the Liver-
pool papers. To so high a pitch had party
feeling risen, that those who were known to be
members of this society were publicly insulted,
and, after a very short time, were compelled to
discontinue their meetings. At this juncture
appeared Mr. Pitt's celebrated proclamation al-
ready referred to, and the load of opprobrium
under which the friends of peace and reform
laboured was doubled. Unwilling that objects
and motives, the most false and unjust, should

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

be imputed to those who professed the same
principles with himself, Mr. Roscoe drew up a
declaration expressing the attachment of those
who signed it, to the constitution, and, at the
same time, their resolution to seek a parlia-
mentary reform by all legal, temperate, and
constitutional means. This declaration was com-
municated to his friends, and was already ex-
tensively signed, when the mayor of Liverpool
convoked a public meeting of the inhabitants to
consider the propriety of addressing the king.
An opportunity being thus afforded for a more
open expression of opinion, the parties who had
promoted the signing of the Declaration resolved
to lay it aside, and to reserve their sentiments
for the public meeting. Accordingly, on the
previous evening, Mr. Roscoe prepared the form
of an address, pursuing, in a great measure, the
sentiments of the Declaration, but containing a
more delicate allusion to the subject of reform.
Three addresses having been proposed by dif-
ferent friends of the government, Mr. Birch
(now Sir Joseph Birch) introduced that which
had been drawn up by Mr. Roscoe. A stormy
debate arose upon it, and violent efforts were
made by their opponents to prevent the ad-
vocates of peace and reform from being heard.
Mr. Roscoe, however, and some of his friends,
succeeded in addressing the meeting ; and after
a contest of nearly two hours his address was

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 123

carried, on a show of hands, by a considerable
majority. The mayor, who presided, having
declared the address carried, appointed the fol-
lowing Monday (the meeting being held on
Saturday) for its signature in the Town Hall.

On that day a singular scene took place. The
populace, who in the mean time had been ex-
cited by placards posted on the walls, assembled
round the doors of the Town Hall, and insulted
those who attended for the purpose of signing
the address, which they defaced and destroyed,
no peace officers being in attendance to pre-
vent this outrage. They then sent for the
mayor, called for his address ; and upon one of
the addresses rejected at the former meeting
being produced, they voted it to be the Liver-
pool address. It was signed as such by the
mayor and the persons present ; and with 12,000
signatures attached to it was presented to the
king.

In a letter to Lord Lansdowne, giving an
account of these transactions, Mr. Roscoe adds,
" The loss of an address, which I was in hopes
would have conciliated all parties, and put an
end to our political dissensions in Liverpool, is
not, however, our only cause of regret. In
order to justify the violence of their measures,
our antagonists find it necessary to load us with
all possible odium ; to struggle against it only
renders it more oppressive ; and all we have now

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

to do is to submit in silence, lest we occasion
others of a more personal nature, with which
several of us have been threatened, both anony-
mously and openly.

******

" In the course of the last fortnight, the only
newspaper that would admit an article on the
cause of Reform has been obliged, by the vio-
lence and threats of some intolerant individuals,
to disavow its principles, and profess a thorough
devotion to the prevailing frenzy ; and though
there are four weekly papers published, there is
not one that will admit a contradiction to the
grossest calumnies that can be devised against
the friends of Reform, who have not now a
public organ by which they can address the
town of Liverpool."

Not satisfied with repressing by every means
in their power the progress of French principles
at home, the government ultimately resolved to
attempt the extermination of them in the coun-
try where they had their birth. There have
been few periods in our history at which a war
with France has been unpopular; and when
hostilities with the French Republic were an-
nounced, the intelligence was received with a
general expression of satisfaction throughout the
nation. As yet we had not been taught the
bitter lesson, that the triumphs of our arms may
be too dearly purchased, and that a few years of

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 125

successful achievements in war may be followed
by ages of national difficulty and distress. To
those who, like Mr. Roscoe, regarded all wars
not resorted to from the most urgent necessity
as iniquitous and wicked, and who looked with
peculiar aversion upon an attempt like this to
repress the liberties of a foreign country by force
of arms, the war with France was doubly odious.
The commercial difficulties in which the country
became deeply involved, soon after the com-
mencement of hostilities, gave him an oppor-
tunity, in attempting to trace out the causes of
these embarrassments, to express publicly his
opinion of the injustice and impolicy of the war.
The extensive mercantile failures which took
place in the year 1793 were accounted for in
various ways. By some, their origin was attri-
buted to the undue extension of paper circula-
tion ; and by others, to the improvident specula-
tions of individuals ; but a different cause was
assigned to them by Mr. Roscoe. He justly
regarded them as owing to the sudden transition
from a state of peace to that of war ; which, by
affecting all the foreign commercial relations of
the country, was destructive to mercantile credit.
These opinions he embodied in a short pamphlet,
which he published under the title of " Thoughts
on the Causes of the present Failures." * The

* London: J. Johnson. 1793. Republished in "Occa-
sional Tracts relative to the War." London. 1810.

126 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

work attracted some attention ; and was noticed
by the late Marquis of Lansdowne in the House

of Lords " I was so much delighted with your

little tract," says that nobleman, in a letter to
Mr. Roscoe, " that I could not help mentioning
both it and the author, in the House of Lords,
in the terms which they deserve. The ministry,
when I mentioned it, affected to sneer at it ; but
I have the pleasure to tell you, that several
members of both Houses have been as much
struck with it as myself. Your principles do you
as much honour, as I feel your friendship must
always do me. * * * It will give me always
pleasure to hear from you, and I hope you won't
forget the public."*

But the interest felt by Mr. Roscoe in politi-
cal affairs did not prevent him from prosecuting
his schemes of literary improvement. The study
of the Italian writers employed at this time the
greater part of his leisure ; and he was thus
gradually familiarising himself with that exten-
sive subject, which he afterwards so successfully
illustrated. In the society, also, of the intelli-
gent friends by whom he was surrounded, he
found a relief, both from the anxieties of his
profession and from the disappointment of his
political views. The occasional meetings, which
took place in an evening at the houses of Mr.
Roscoe and his friends, assumed so agreeable a

* Letter dated Uth May, 1793.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 127

character, that it was determined to give them a
more permanent form ; and " The Literary So-
ciety" was consequently founded. Amongst the
members of this friendly association were Dr.
Currie, the Rev. W. Shepherd, the Rev. John
Yates, Professor Smyth, Mr. Rathbone, Dr. Rut-
ter, and Mr. Roscoe. Their meetings were held
every fortnight, at their respective houses ; and
the hour before supper was devoted to the read-
ing of papers or the discussion of literary ques-
tions. But even this peaceful and unoffending
company was not exempt from the violence of
party feeling. Upon the appearance of Mr. Pitt's
proclamation against seditious meetings, and the
consequent odium in which all who professed
liberal principles were involved, the Literary
Society found their meetings viewed with so
much suspicion and jealousy, that it was thought
proper, for the time, to discontinue them, nor
were they afterwards resumed. This circum-
stance is referred to in the following extract
from a letter addressed at the time to the Mar-
quis of Lansdowne : —

" It was my intention to have stated to your
Lordship some other instances of the consequences
felt under the present system, where every man
is called on to be a spy upon his brother ; but I
have already intruded much too far on your
Lordship's time. I must, however, mention that
I have, for upwards of ten years, been a member

128 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

of a little society of about a dozen persons (Dr.
Currie and others), who have, during that time,
met in rotation at each other's houses. The
object of our meeting was merely literary ; but
suspicion has for some time gone abroad about
us, and I have good reason to believe we have
been thought of importance enough to be pointed
out to government by the collector of the cus-
toms here. Some of us having openly appeared
on the late address, has, I believe, completed
the business ; and, in the present state of things,
we have thought it expedient to suspend our
future meetings."

It was at this stormy and threatening period
that the following sonnet was addressed by Mr.
Shepherd to his friend : —

SONNET ADDRESSED TO MR. ROSCOE.

" When darkening clouds surcharge the moistened air,

And frowning tempests roll along the sky,
The prudent shepherd drives his fleecy care

Where the grey rock uplifts its head on high :
There, undisturb'd, he hears the roaring wind,
And sees before him sweep the driving rain ;
Or 'tween the gusts, beneath the crag reclined,

In fading distance eyes the troubled main :
So, when intestine broils or foreign rage

With angry tumult fire the public breast,
Let us, my Roscoe, fly the maddening age,
And 'mid domestic comforts calmly rest,
When wrath and discord through the nations roam,
Thrice happy who possess and prize a peaceful home.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 129

Early in life Mr. Roscoe had acquired a lively
taste for country pleasures and agricultural pur-
suits j a taste which, for many years, he had little
opportunity of indulging. About the year 1792,
in travelling from Manchester to Liverpool, he
was struck with the extensive track of uncul-
tivated moss-land, which runs for some miles
along the road in the neighbourhood of Man-
chester ; and it occurred to him, that the draining
and improvement of this land might be made a
source of profit, as well as a work of public
utility. In conjunction, therefore, with his
friend, Mr. Thomas Wakefield, who had been
engaged in a similar undertaking, he resolved
to apply for a lease of the moss ; for the purpose
of procuring which they visited London in the
winter of 1792. Being detained in town for
some weeks by this business, Mr. Roscoe had
an opportunity of enjoying the society of many
friends whom he highly valued, and of gratify-
ing his taste by the purchase of a few works of
art. The following short extracts are selected
from his letters to Mrs. Roscoe, written during
this visit : —

" You must not conceive, because I have not
troubled you with the particulars of our trans-
actions and disappointments, we had not a spe-
cific object in view. The truth is, we have been
led on day by day, always hoping the accom-
plishment of our purpose, and as often frustrated.

VOL. i. K

130 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

To-day has, however, brought us to a point;
and W. and I have offered a sum of money,
which, I believe, will remove further objections,
and put matters in train, in which case it is
probable that two or three weeks may restore
me to the place where all my affections are
centered.

" On Saturday I dined with the Marquis of
Lansdowne, in a family party, and am to break-
fast with him some day this week. On Thursday
I am to meet Dr. Priestley at Dr. Aikin's. In
short, I endeavour to amuse myself as well as I
can, and (don't be alarmed) am not altogether
unsuccessful. Fuseli sat with me at my lodgings
last night. We dined with him a few days since ;
so that you see there is nothing to be appre-
hended for my health and safety.

» * * # *

" Should D. D.* teU you that I have bought
a large and magnificent collection of pictures,
don't believe him — it's no such thing — a few
trifles by which I shall gain cent, per cent., and
Dan shall be the first man I take in.

" I have many hopes of accomplishing our pur-
pose ; and if that be done, perhaps your vision of
the little comfortable cot, and peace and content-
ment, and laughing at the follies and faults of
the world, may be realised. For my own part, I

* Mr. Daulby.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 131

am indifferent as to every thing but being re-
stored to the bosom of my family, whether it
be in town or country."

The same strong attachment to domestic so-
ciety is expressed in the following letter : —

" This negotiation, with other affairs I have
on hand, has kept me in close and perpetual
employment ; and it was with great difficulty I
got to dine at Dr. Aikin's yesterday, where I
met with Dr. Priestley, Dr. Rees, Mr. Belsham,
&c., and passed a few agreeable hours.

" My way of life here I contrive to make as
agreeable as circumstances will permit. The
affairs I have on hand employ my full attention
all day ; but you will easily judge I am not much
pleased with my solitary parlour in the evening,
when my thoughts all turn towards my own
little fireside. I am not, however, foolish enough
to torment myself because I cannot at all times
enjoy the pleasures dearest to my heart. A
temporary absence of this kind is at times in-
evitable ; and if we have only the happiness of
meeting again, and seeing our little feUows in
good health, it will repay us for the anxiety of
our separation."

" After living a fortnight in the hurry of a
coffee-room," says Mr. Roscoe, in a letter written
soon after the foregoing, " I am now writing
this letter in private lodgings, which I find very
comfortable. The impossibility of being alone

K 2

132 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

for a moment would, in another week, have
made me half crazy ; but here I hope to be able
to summon up what little philosophy I have,
and to learn to bear my present separation from
the dear objects of my love, with temper and
resolution, considering that what I am now en-
deavouring to attain will, probably, in the end,
enable us to place ourselves in a situation some-
what more suitable to our wishes, and add to
the many blessings we already experience, that
of being able to render some services to those
about us.

" I have seen my old friend, David Samwell*,
who did not at first recognise me, as I should
scarcely have done him -, but, on mentioning
my name, he was highly pleased to see me. He
is to take me to the Leverian Museum, and to
explain the South Sea curiosities, &c. In a
world like this, where our friends are constantly
slipping from our sides, it is highly gratifying
to meet with an honest fellow, after an absence
of nearly twenty-five years."

The friendship of Mr. Roscoe with Lord
Lansdowne, and the character which he had
already acquired for liberal studies, were the
means of introducing him to most of the dis-

* An early companion of Mr. Roscoe. He accompanied
Captain Cook in one of his Voyages. A copious journal
kept during this voyage by Mr, Samwell is now in the
possession of Mr. Roscoe's family.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 133

tinguished foreigners who visited Liverpool.
Amongst others, a young Danish nobleman, the
Count Rantzau, brought recommendations to
him in the year 1793, which led to a friendship
not commonly arising from so transient an ac-
quaintance. The excellent dispositions of this
young nobleman manifested themselves on his
return to his estates, in an act of justice and hu-
manity, referred to by Mr. Roscoe in the follow-
ing letter, addressed to the Count in the year
1796: —

" Inexcusable as I must appear to you, in not
having acknowledged the favour of your letter
dated so long since as llth February, 1794, I
have not forgotten the very pleasant hours for
which I am indebted to you on your visit to
Liverpool, nor have I once ceased to feel those
sentiments of sincere and respectful esteem to
which that visit gave rise. The truth is, that
having unavoidably deferred writing for a short
time, and understanding from your letters that
you were then undertaking a journey to Northern
Jutland, I was at a loss to know your destination,
till I had the pleasure, a few weeks since, to see
your near relation and friend, Baron Buckwald,
who honoured me with a visit, and gratified my
enquiries respecting you. From him I learned
(what I assure you gave me great pleasure) that
you had entered into the matrimonial state, and

K 3

134 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

had reason to expect every happiness which il can
afford. It was with no less satisfaction I found that
you had executed the benevolent intention wrhich
you did me the honour of mentioning to me, and
had liberated your numerous vassals within your
estates in Holstein. The accomplishments of
rank, or the acquisitions of science, may command
respect and admiration ; but I venerate the man
who can break through the prejudices of an un-
just, though long established custom, and who
finds a gratification in exchanging the authority
and name of a jnaster, for the more honourable
title of a benefactor, a father, and a friend. I
hope and trust that such examples of a wise and
enlightened policy will not be without their
effect ; and that the liberty and happiness of the
northern kingdoms of Europe may be effected by
just and gradual steps, without those dreadful
commotions which have been occasioned in other
countries by the blind obstinacy of the rulers, and
the headlong impetuosity of the people."

Of the noble act to which Mr. Roscoe refers,
a more particular account is given by Count
Rantzau, in his answer to the preceding letter.

" Having, since a long time, given up every
hope of keeping any place in your memory, I
was most agreeably surprised by receiving your
favour of the 30th of September, and I seize with
pleasure the opportunity you have the kindness
of offering, to keep up a connection which I shall

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 135

always consider as one of the most interesting
fruits of my travels.

" I may not conceal to you how much the ap-
probation of my conduct, which a man in a far
distant country, whom age and knowledge places
far above me, flatters myself. It gives me the
courage to entertain you further of those steps
which are made in a small and peaceable country
towards the civil accomplishment of the state of
society.

" It was in the year 1794, I granted liberty
and property to the gleba adscriptis of my estate.
In 1796, shortly after my return from Italy, the
noblemen and country gentlemen instituted a
committee to examine the state of slavery in Hoi-
stein. The lovers of ancient time endeavoured
to abuse this measure as a mean for continuing
in our former state. Having been so happy as
to be elected a member of the committee, con-
sisting of eight noblemen and four gentlemen, I
proposed the total abolition of slavery in Holstein
and Sleswick, and was so happy to carry the
measure, after the debate had lasted about thirteen
months. This resolution was signed the llth
of March, and is already submitted to the royal
approbation. The latter part of this century has
seen many examples of sovereigns restoring part
of their subjects to the rights of which another
part had deprived them, but I think it the very
first instance, where a privileged order has volun-

K 4

136 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

tarily received their slaves into the rank of citi-
zens. If you see Lord Lansdowne, I beg you
to do me the favour to inform him of this. I
am sure a thing of this nature will, notwith-
standing the remoteness of the theatre and the
smallness of the object, merit the attention and
interest of that great man."

How long this interesting correspondence was
kept up, does not appear. But the following
letter, addressed by the Countess Rantzau to Mr.
Roscoe, in 1814, evinces the confidence and
attachment with which her husband had always
continued to regard his friend : —

« Kiel, en Holstein, le 16 Fevrier, 1814.
" MONSIEUR,

" C'est une inconnue, Monsieur, qui vous ap-
proche avec confiance. C'est la meilleure amie,
la triste veuve, d'un homme qui a passe les plus
beaux momens de sa jevinesse dans votre pays,
qui est reste a jamais le paradis de son imagin-
ation. Vous Favez alors comble de vos bontes ;
il ne m'en a jamais parle sans emotion ; plu-
sieurs de vos lettres et des marques distinguees de
votre souvenir 1'ont honore depuis et sensiblement
rejoui'. M. Niebuhr, que le Cte. Rantzau a ose
plus tard vous recommander, lui en a su un gre
inexprimable — et c'est moi qui viens aujourd'hui,
— sans aucune merite — sans aucune motif que la
confiance dans votre noble creur, — etle souvenir

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 137

que vous portez, peut-etre encore, a 1'homme
aimable, adore — qui n'est plus, — reclamervos
conseils.

" Je medite, Monsieur, d'envoyer mes deux
fils aines a Edinbourg," &c. Madame Rantzau
then states her views with regard to the edu-
cation of her sons, and requests Mr. Roscoe's
advice and assistance in her arrangements for
their benefit ; she then concludes —

" Enfin, Monsieur, mettez-vous a la place d'une
pauvremere, triste, malheureuse, abandonnee trop
tot, helas ! par le soutien adore", clairvoyant, qui
guidait toutes ses demarches ! Ah ! vous ne sa-
vez pas a quel point 1'homme incomparable, qui
n'est plus, avait tenu parole.

" J'ose le dire sans aveuglement qu'il reunissait
a 1'esprit le plus mur, le plus riche, le plus serieux,
le creur le plus elev£, le plus disinteresse, le plus
tendre ; j'ai vu disparaitre tout cela, je 1'ai vu a
la fleur de ses ans fermer les yeux. J'ai survecu,
parceque Dieu 1'a voulu ; je suis faible, et mal-
avise, et je voudrais que ses enfans fussent dignes
d'un tel pere.

" La confiance m'a entraine vers vous, qu'il
honorait d'une maniere peu commune. Vous ne
sauriez croire, Monsieur, combien il cherissait le
souvenir des terns qu'il avoit passe avec vous, et
que de fois, que de fois il m'en a parle avec at-
tendrissement. Daignez done me pardonner et
de me le dire ! J'ai perdu ce meilleur ami il y a

138 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

deux ans. Dites-moi que vous'pardonnez, Mon-
sieur, avotre tres-humble et tres-obligee servante,

" LA CONTESSE DE RANTZAU,

" nee Baronne de DIEDE.

" Soufrrez aussique jevous remercie, Monsieur,
du plaisir que m'a cause votre incomparable livre
des Medicis ; il m'a distrait dans des momens ou
j'etais fort triste. Quoique vous ecrivez en Fran-
9ais avec la meme facilite, je preferais que vous
voulussiez repondre en Anglais, seulement je n'ai
pas eu le courage de vous ecrire dans cette
langue."

To this letter Mr. Roscoe returned the fol-
lowing answer : —

" MADAM,

" I had lately the honour of receiving your
letter, dated the 16th of February last, com-
municating to me your views and intentions
with respect to the sons of my highly respected
and amiable friend, of whose early loss I first
received the painful account from your letter.
Short as was the time during which I had the
pleasure of Count Rantzau's acquaintance, I
know sufficient of him to be able to appreciate
his many great and excellent qualities, and
deeply to feel for you, Madam, who have been
so early deprived of his affection and society.

" It is, however, gratifying to me to find, that

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 139

this afflicting dispensation of Providence has
been supported by you in a manner worthy the
chosen companion of such a man, and that your
attention and care are earnestly devoted to pre-
vent, as much as possible, the disadvantages his
children must experience from the loss of such
a parent. Happy, indeed, should I be, were
it in my power to suggest any thing that might
assist your kind maternal efforts, or give any
useful information as to the plans you propose
to adopt."

Mr. Roscoe concludes the letter with giving
her the information she desired, and requesting
to be honoured freely with her commands.

Hitherto the residence of Mr. Roscoe had
been entirely confined to the town of Liverpool ;
but, in the course of the year 1790, he removed
to a house pleasantly situated at Toxteth Park,
about two miles from Liverpool. The principal
attraction of this residence was the immediate
vicinity of a small but beautiful dingle, leading
to the shores of the Mersey, and presenting
many delightful prospects of the river, and the
country beyond. The distance from Liverpool
was not such as to prevent Mr. Roscoe either
from attending to his professional engagements
with punctuality, or from enjoying the society
of the friends to whom he was attached, some
of whose residences were, indeed, brought nearer
to him by the change. It was the beauty of

140 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

" the Dingle" that suggested to his mind the
following little poem, certainly one of the most
pleasing productions of his pen : —

INSCRIPTION.

Stranger ! that with careless feet
Wanderest near this green retreat,
Where through gently bending slopes
Soft the distant prospect opes ;

Where the fern, in fringed pride,
Decks the lonely valley's side ;
Where the whitethroat chirps his song,
Flitting as thou tread'st along :

Know, where now thy footsteps pass

O'er the bending tufts of grass,

Bright gleaming through the encircling wood,

Once a NAIAD roll'd her flood.

If her urn, unknown to Fame,
Pour'd no far extended stream,
Yet along its grassy side,
Clear and constant roll'd the tide.

Grateful for the tribute paid,
Lordly MERSEY lov'd the maid ;
Yonder rocks still mark the place
Where she met his stern embrace.

Stranger, curious, would'st thou learn
Why she mourns her wasted urn ?
Soon a short and simple verse
Shall her hapless fate rehearse.

Ere yon neighbouring spires arose,
That the upland prospect close,
Or ere along the startled shore
Echoed loud the cannon's roar ;

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 141

Once the maid, in summer's heat,
Careless left her cool retreat,
And by sultry suns opprest,
Laid her wearied limbs to rest ;

Forgetful of her daily toil,

To trace each humid tract of soil,

From dews and bounteous showers to bring

The limpid treasures of her spring.

Enfeebled by the scorching ray,
She slept the circling hours away ;
And when she oped her languid eye,
She found her silver urn was dry.

Heedless Stranger ! who so long
Hast listen 'd to an idle song,
Whilst trifles thus thy notice share,
Hast thou no urn that asks thy care ?

Mr. Roscoe continued to reside at Toxteth
Park for three years, when, having purchased
some land at Birchfield, on the north side of
Liverpool, he erected a house upon it for him-
self, to which he removed in the year 1793.

CHAPTER V.

1795.

First idea of writing- the Life of Lorenzo de9 Medici —
•want of materials — assistance rendered by Mr. William
Clarke at Florence — progress of the work — printing
of the inedited poems of Lorenzo — the Life sent to
press. — Mr. M'Creery. — Lord Orford's opinion. —
Letter to Lord Lansdowne. — Publication of the Life —
its popularity. — Letters from Lord Orford and Lord
Bristol. — Opinions on the work — Lord Lansdowne, Dr.
Aikin, the author of the " Pursuits of Literature" —
correspondence with the latter. — Letters from Mr. J. C.
Walker and Fuseli. — Dr. Parr's criticisms, and cor-
respondence with him. — Favourable reception from the
periodical critics — review by Fuseli in the Analytical
Review — success of the work abroad — opinions of the
Italian scholars Fabroni andBandini — translation into
Italian by the Cav. Mechertni, and correspondence with
him — criticism of the Abate Andres — opinions of Mo-
relli and Moreni — translation into German bySprengel
— letter to him — translation into French — republication
in America.

145

CHAPTER V.

IT has already been observed, that the idea of
writing the Life of Lorenzo de* Medici occurred
to Mr. Roscoe at an early period of his life,
when, with the assistance of his friend, Francis
Holden, he first began to study the literature of
Italy. Amid the avocations of business, and
the variety of other pursuits in which his taste
or his duty led him to engage, the design slum-
bered, but was not forgotten. In perusing the
Italian historians, and especially the Florentine
annals of Machiavelli and Ammirato, he was ac-
customed to note the various passages which
threw a light on the life and character of Lo-
renzo. His reading was at the same time directed
as well to the writers of that age, as to those
later authors, such as Crescembeni, Muratori,
and Tiraboschi, who have illustrated the liter-
ature of their country by their critical labours.
Unfortunately, Liverpool did not at that period
possess any public library to which, when he
found his own collection deficient, he could
resort ; and amongst the first difficulties which
he experienced in the prosecution of his task,

VOL. I. L

146 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

was the heavy and discouraging one of a want of
materials. This deficiency he had in part sup-
plied by the diligence with which he examined
the catalogues of the London booksellers, and
the zeal with which, during his visits to the me-
tropolis, he sought for the volumes which his
labours required. Fortunately, also, the sale of
the Crevenna and Pinelli libraries, occurring at
this period, enabled him to procure many scarce
and valuable works, for which he had hitherto
enquired in vain. But the riches treasured up
in the literary repositories of Italy still remained
inaccessible to him ; and his professional engage-
ments precluded every idea of his being able to
make a personal examination of them. Even if
the zeal of a foreign agent could be relied upon,
who could be discovered with knowledge and
judgment equal to the task ? " The imprac-
ticability of obtaining in this country,*' says
Mr. Roscoe, in the preface to his Life of Lo-
renzo, " the information of which I stood in
need, would perhaps have damped the ardour of
any undertaking, had not a circumstance pre-
sented itself, in the highest degree favourable to
my purpose. An intimate friend, with whom
I had been many years united in studies and
affection, had paid a visit to Italy, and had fixed
his winter residence at Florence. I well knew
that I had only to request his assistance, in order
to obtain whatever information he had an oppor-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 147

tunity of procuring, from the very spot which
was to be the scene of my intended history.
My enquiries were particularly directed to the
Laurentian and Riccardi Libraries, which I was
convinced would afford much original and inter-
esting information. It would be unjust, merely
to say that my friend afforded me the assistance
I required ; he went far beyond even the hopes
I had formed ; and his return to his native land
was, if possible, rendered still more grateful to
me, by the materials he had collected for my
use."

The gentleman to whom Mr. Roscoe was in-
debted for these important obligations, was Mr.
William Clarke, the companion of his early
studies, and the devoted friend of his maturer
life. The state of his health having compelled
him to seek a milder climate, he selected Italy as
the place of his residence ; and arriving in that
country in 1789, he resolved to pass the winter
at Fiesole, where he rented a furnished villula
for the term of six months. The distance of
Fiesole from Florence not being more than
three miles, Mr. Clarke was in the daily habit
of visiting the latter place, and of spending his
mornings in the public libraries. Thus situated
in the midst of those treasures which Mr. Ros-
coe so ardently desired to possess, himself an
excellent classical scholar, and devoted to lite-
rary occupations, no one coidd have been dis-

L 2

148 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

covered better qualified than Mr. Clarke for the
agreeable task which his friend imposed upon
him. At the close of the year 1789, Mr. Roscoe
informed him of his design, and requested his
assistance in the prosecution of it. This was
readily and joyfully granted ; though not with-
out many expressions of regret that his friend
was unable personally to join him in his re-
searches. " I wish," he says, in a letter dated
January 9. 1790, " you could have come into
Italy yourself, to animate my researches, or rather
to render them useless, by your native penetra-
tion and accumulated sqavoir : " and again, in
a letter written during the following month, —
" How much I lament the impossibility of our
being together in Florence ! A month passed
on the spot would considerably enrich your
work. As I fear it cannot be as I wish, accept
my endeavours to supply the desideratum."

The zeal and diligence of Mr. Clarke in the
service of his friend, induced him to lose no time
in enquiring into the various literary repositories
of Florence. To the credit of the Grand Duke,
his palaces, galleries, museums, and libraries,
were thrown open, in the most liberal manner,
to every stranger desirous of visiting them ;
while, in the other cities of Italy, access to the
public collections was only to be obtained by
means of a bribe. Even the public archives and
state papers, lodged in the Palazzo Vecchio, —

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 149

documents, which the jealousy of other govern-
ments has guarded with a scrupulous secrecy,
— were accessible, on presenting to the Grand
Duke a memorial, the prayer of which was never
refused. To these valuable repositories, and
also to the extensive library of the Marquis Ric-
cardi, Mr. Clarke resorted ; and with the assist-
ance of the very learned Canonico Bandini, the
Grand Duke's librarian, and of the Abbate
Fontani, the keeper of the Riccardi Library, he
gained access to many curious and valuable ma-
nuscripts relating to the history of the Medici.
These he carefully examined, making notes of
such portions of them as appeared most likely
to furnish materials for his friend. From the
copious and excellent catalogue, by Bandini, of
the MSS. preserved in the Laurentian Library,
he extracted the titles of such as contained the
desired information. " I wish," he observes, in
a letter dated February 4. 1790, " you had an
opportunity of examining the catalogue ; be-
cause, it would enable you to point out to me
what you would have me examine ; but, as I
foresee that this is not likely to be hi your
power, I shall go on in the method I have begun,
that is, of taking an account of all such materials
as seem to be connected with your plan, with
accurate references, as you desire ; so that on a
review of these materials, tete-a-tete, we can send
our commissions to this city, to have the need-

L 3

150 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

ful transcriptions made. There will be no dif-
ficulty in finding amanuenses here for that pur-
pose." Nor did Mr. Clarke confine himself to
an examination of the manuscript treasures of
Florence. He assiduously sought for the printed
works of the authors who have illustrated the
Medicean age ; and when able to procure copies
of those which Mr. Roscoe did not possess, he
transmitted them to Liverpool. With the view
of making himself well acquainted with the sub-
ject, he twice perused the Life of Lorenzo by
Fabroni, with an especial reference to the autho-
rities of that writer. " In a few days," he says,
in a letter dated in the month of March, 1790,
" I remove to Florence, to remain there from
fifteen to twenty days, totally occupied with your
hero, who has won my warmest veneration. I
have gone through (twice) Fabroni'swork. Many
of his authorities will be useful to you. The life,
which is composed in Latin, with laboured
attention to the style, has more regard to the
public conduct of Lorenzo than to his private
character; with, however, some animadversions
upon his patronage of learning and the arts.
Yours, I am convinced, will be a more entertain-
ing work. I need not recommend your taking
time to digest it well. As I now know the prin-
cipal sources that may afford materials, before I
leave Florence I shall take such a general view
of them, that I can leave or send directions to

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 151

have what is most within the compass of your
plan copied and transmitted."

With the valuable materials thus fortunately
supplied to him, Mr. Roscoe proceeded with
double ardour to the completion of his laborious
yet agreeable task. Amongst the unpublished
pieces transmitted to him from Florence, were
many original poems of Lorenzo de* Medici, of
whose poetical talents Mr. Roscoe had already
formed a very high opinion. A small collection
of these inedited pieces he sent to the press in
the year 1791 ; and a limited impression of only
twelve copies was printed, to be distributed
amongst his literary friends. The volume is
appropriately inscribed to Mr. Clarke, in a short
dedication written in Italian, from which we
may gather that no inconsiderable progress was
already made in his Life of Lorenzo. " Ben
sapete," he says, " che il MAGNIFICO LORENZO
autore di essi, vero Mecenate, e restauratore
delle belle lettere nel secolo decimo quinto,
e da molto tempo 1'oggetto di mia somma
reverenza, ed ammirazione ; applicandomi io ad
investigar le particolarita della sua vita, la quale
spero mettere fra poco sotto gli occhi de* miei
compatriotti, forse piu estesamente, che non
hanno fatto il Valori ed il Fabroni." " Godo,"
he adds, in conclusion, " che nel consecrare
questo leggier tributo alia memoria d* un uomo
degno di perpetua lode e venerazione, mi sia

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152 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

presentata occasione d' unire insieme i nostri
nomi siccome i nostri studj geniali ci hanno gia
da molti anni —

" In nodo d 'amista congiunti, e stretti."

All the leisure which his profession allowed
him was now dedicated to the Life of Lorenzo ;
and in the autumn of the year 1793 he com-
mitted the first sheets of his work to the press.
From a desire of encouraging the talents of
those around him, he was led to intrust the
printing of this work- to Mr. John M'Creery,
who, by his advice, had lately established a
press in Liverpool. The typographical beauty
of the first edition of the Life of Lorenzo de*
Medici sufficiently attests the skill of Mr.
M'Creery as a printer ; but it was not merely
the professional ability of this gentleman which
won the regard of Mr. Roscoe. The undevi-
ating rectitude of his mind, and the warmth
and devotedness of his feelings, led to a strict
friendship, which remained unbroken ' to the
termination of Mr. Roscoe's life.* In the spring

* Mr. M'Creery did not long survive his friend. In com-
pany with Mrs. M'Creery, and one of his daughters, he visited
Paris in the autumn of 1831, and was residing in that city
when the cholera made its appearance there. On the eve of
departing for Switzerland, he was attacked by that dreadful
disease, and fell a victim to it in the course of two days.

He was a man of much cultivation of mind, and possessed
considerable poetical powers, which were uniformly devoted
to the cause of truth, of freedom, and of human improvement.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 153

of 1794, a considerable portion of the first volume
of the Life was printed, and the sheets were
transmitted to Mr. Edwards, the bookseller, of

In his political opinions he was inflexibly consistent, and had
won the esteem and confidence of many persons distinguished
in public life. Laborious, exact, and skilful, he had the satis-
faction of finding himself at length rendered independent by
the practice of his useful and honourable profession ; and he
had begun joyfully to devote to literature the leisure he had
earned.

Of his ardent and unfailing attachment to Mr. Roscoe, he
has left a public memorial in the dedication of the two parts
of his Poem of" The Press," published in 1803 and in 1828.
But his friendship was better exhibited in the never-tiring
zeal with which he availed himself of every opportunity to
serve his friend, in the deep sympathy with which he en-
tered into all the vicissitudes of his life, and in the promp-
titude with which, at a season of difficulty, he endeavoured
to procure him support and assistance. How sensible Mr.
Roscoe was of his friendship, may be best seen from the fol-
lowing letter, written in the summer of 1820 : —

" MY EVER DEAR FRIEND,

" I have long wished to address a few lines of ac-
knowledgment to you for your constant and invariable kind-
ness to me and mine, during our long and painful state of
suspense, but have delayed it in the hope of seeing our con-
cerns in a fair way of being satisfactorily arranged. That
expectation is not, however, yet realised : and as I have to
send an additional poem or two for my daughter Jane's little
publication, I could no longer resist the desire of having a
few words with you, and of assuring you that, though silent,
I have not been insensible of that friendship which has been
evinced under the most trying circumstances ; nor of those
kind and constant exertions o*n my behalf, which adversity,
and the train of evils with which I have had to struggle, have
only served to increase. I will not, however, dwell on this

154 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

Pall Mall, with whom Mr. Roscoe was in
habits of correspondence. By him they were
laid before the Miss Berrys, whose intimate
acquaintance with Italian literature rendered
them very competent judges of the work. The
character given of it by them to the late Lord
Orfbrd, induced that nobleman to apply to Mr.
Edwards for permission to peruse the sheets ; and
the following note, which was immediately com-
municated to Mr. Roscoe, was highly gratifying
to him, as proceeding from a person so distin-
guished in the literary world.*

" Lord Orford feels himself sensibly obliged
by Mr. Edwards allowing Miss Berry to com-
municate to him the fragment of the Life of
Lorenzo de* Medici. Lord O. has not enjoyed
so much and such unexpected pleasure for a

subject, which I well know is unnecessary between us, and
from the weight of which I find a great relief in the perfect
consciousness of my own mind, that the affectionate attach-
ment you have shown me, and which has surmounted so many
trials, cannot exceed that which I trust you well know is so
sincerely felt by me in return."

* The satisfaction expressed by Mr. Roscoe at the judg-
ment of Lord Orford seems to have excited the spleen of
Fuseli. " I understand," he says in a letter to Mr. Roscoe,
" that Lord Orford, the quondam Horace Walpole, has given
an ample suffrage to what he saw of " Lorenzo." That he
should have done so surprises me not, but I am a little hurt
at your having wished for it. The editor of Vertue's trash
should not have had much consequence in your eyes, though
I shall not deny that there are disjecti membra poetce in the
" Mysterious Mother."

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 155

long time, as from this most able, informing,
and entertaining work, which, though it will
leave a most agreeable impression on his mind,
gives him great inquietude too, as he does not
think that it will appear very soon, — an afflicting
circumstance to Lord O., as very soon may be
of great consequence to a very infirm man of
seventy^six, who has no hopes of being so well
amused as he should be by reading the com-
pletion of this work, for the sight of which he
again thanks Mr. Edwards."

The feelings with which Mr. Roscoe com-
mitted his labours to the press may be gathered
from the following extract from a letter addressed
to Lord Lansdowne : —

" About the work itself, I confess I am less
anxious. After having employed a great part of
my leisure for some years past upon it, I feel at
length something of the sensation described by
Dr. Johnson on publishing his Dictionary, and
may say with him, that I dismiss it into the
world with frigid indifference. The truth is,
it is a tale of other times, bearing but little on
the momentous occurrences of the present day,
and therefore not likely to be much applauded
or abused by any party. I have, on all occa-
sions, avoided violent and extreme opinions,
and perhaps may be accused by some of having
taken some pains to display the glossy side of
aristocracy. Possibly, however, this may com-

156 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

pensate for a certain degree of republican spirit
which others will discover towards the close. I
feel also some confidence from the idea that the
subject is new to this country, and that the
critics will not be yet prepared to take ad-
vantage of my errors. The affairs of Italy, and
particularly the transactions of the Medici, have
been involved in endless confusion ; and the only
work which I have ever met with (not published
in Italy), which gives any just idea of them, is
that of Mr. Tenhove.

" I am sensible that it may appear a strange
waste of time to have employed so many hours
on a subject which has no immedate tendency
to develope or influence any of the important
truths that are now unfolding; but I have at
times consoled myself in the reflection, that if I
should be fortunate enough to open a new source
of rational amusement, my time would not have
been uselessly employed ; and that every thing
which tends to soften down the irritation of
political opinions, and introduce from past ex-
perience measures of moderation and forbear-
ance, will finally tend to promote, in some
degree, the general good."

The Life of Lorenzo was at length published,
in the month of February, 1796, by Mr. Ed-
wards, of Pall Mall, whose first intimation of
the success of the work was conveyed to Mr.
Roscoe in the following letter : —

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 157

" All your parcel (50) of the Life of Lorenzo
have gone off in three days, and we are most
cruelly teazed for more. If they are not sent
off, I beg they may come directly."

On the following day he again wrote to urge
the despatch of more copies.

" Every body," he says, " tells me your
second exceeds the first, though that gave the
highest satisfaction. It is a subject of convers-
ation in every company — not to be able to speak
of it, or to say they are to have it from the next
parcel, is to be void of all taste and discern-
ment."

The work, in short, had become the fashion.
" We are most unfortunately deprived," says
Mr. Edwards, in another letter, " of receiving
any parcel from you since the first fifty. I have
sent day by day to the warehouse of the Duke
of Bridgewater's canal, and nothing is found
there for me. I dare say, if you make enquiry,
you will find them lying in your warehouse at
Liverpool.

" After such a train as your book was in,
nothing could be more mortifying. For I know
the ill effect it will have on our people of fashion.
If they have not things at first, when they are
talked of, they save their guineas, and by affect-
ing to speak of what they are strangers to, give
a very indifferent impression to their companions,
who buy by hearsay. This, you will say, is no-

158 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

thing to you, who seek the applause of the
learned few.

" One, however, is corroborated by the other,
and the mass of approbation, with its various
concomitant conveniences, is the desirable re-
ward of merit.

" Notwithstanding your other business, re-
member I am fretting and harassed continually
from the disappointment of being without a copy
of your book."

The avidity with which the work was sought
for appears likewise by the following note from
Mr. Faulder, a respectable bookseller in New
Bond Street.

" I am so distressed for your * History of the
Medici Family,' that I am under the necessity
of requesting that you will send me two or three
copies by the very first coach, and the money
shall be paid immediately to your order. Since
I have been in business, I have not given so
much offence, as by not being able to serve my
friends with your work."

The first edition of " Lorenzo" was published
on Mr. Roscoe's own account ; but soon after
its appearance, he received a liberal offer (1200/.)
for the copyright, from Messrs. Cadell andDavies,
of the Strand, which he immediately accepted.
A second edition was speedily put to press by
these gentlemen, which was followed by a third
in the early part of the year 1799.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 159

On the completion of the second volume of
the Life, it had been immediately transmitted by
its author to Lord Orford, who acknowledged
the receipt of it in the following letter : —

" Two days ago, sir, good Mr. Edwards
brought me your eagerly expected, and most
welcome, second volume. I must thank you
for it immediately, though incapable of writing
with my own hand. I have been extremely ill
with the gout for above eleven weeks, and ten
days ago was at the point of death with an in-
flammation in my bowels, but have happily lived
to see the continuation of your work, of which I
have already gone through two chapters, and
find them fully equal to their predecessors.
Indeed, as I cannot express, in words of my own,
my sentiments both of your work and of you,
I shall beg your leave to transcribe the charac-
ter of another person, which so exactly suits my
thoughts of you, that I should very awkwardly
attempt to draw another portrait, which I am
sure would not be so like.

" ' Although these volumes appear to be rather
the amusement of the leisure hours of a polite
scholar, than the researches of a professed his-
torian, yet they display an acquaintance with
the transactions of Italy, seldom acquired except
by a native. To a great proficiency in the
literature of that country, Mr. Tenhove united
an indisputable taste in the productions of all

160 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

the fine arts, and a general knowledge of the
state of manners, and the progress of science, in
every period of society. The fertility of his
genius, and the extent of his information, have
enabled him to intersperse his narrative with a
variety of interesting digressions and brilliant
observations ; and the most engaging work that
has, perhaps, ever appeared on a subject of
literary history, is written by a native of one
country, in the language of another, on the
affairs of a third.'

" Nothing, sir, but your own extreme mo-
desty, and impartial justice, would have blinded
you so far as to have prevented you discovering
that this must be a more faithful picture of your-
self than it can be of Mr. Tenhove's imperfect
performance, omitting the language of a third.

" In my own copy of your work, I shall cer-
tainly insert the quotation in lieu of Testimonia
Auctorum.

" Give me leave to thank you (for your own
sake too) for your improvement of the two lines
beginning with imagined evils : you have com-
pletely satisfied me, sir ; and since I find that
you can correct as masterly as compose, I be-
lieve, that, with all my admiration and respect,
I shall be impertinent enough to point out any
new faults, if I can discover them, in your second
volume.

" I hope, by this sincere sketch of my senti-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. l6l

ments, I have so entirely convinced you of them
that I can have no occasion to profess again how
much

" I am, Sir,

" Your most obliged, and most delighted, and
most obedient, humble Servant,

" ORFORD."

That Lord Orford, in the commendations thus
freely bestowed, did not intend merely to flatter
the vanity of the author, may be inferred from
the following letter addressed by the Rev. Mark
Noble to Mr. Roscoe ; from which it appears
that his Lordship expressed his approbation to
others in language almost equally strong : —

" Though an entire stranger to you, I have
ventured to transcribe part of a letter, which I
have just received from Lord Orford, in answer
to one I wrote when I presented his Lordship
with a copy of my Memoirs of the Medici Family.
Such praise from so great a judge must, lam
certain, be highly gratifying.

" Had I not been in the habit of keeping my
letters, and this which I have received related
to various other circumstances, I believe I
should have sent you the original. I am ex-
tremely mortified that the distance precludes me
waiting upon you, a small one would not. I
should have been happy in your acquaintance,
still more so in your friendship j but I am keep-

VOL. I. M

162 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

ing you too long from the praises you so justly
merit.

" Extract of Lord Orford's letter to me, dated
from Berkeley Square, Jan. 12th, 1797 : —

" * I have received, Sir, your "History of the
Medici," and am much obliged to you for it ; it
is well, and judiciously, and impartially written,
and a satisfactory supplement to Mr. Roscoe's
Lorenzo, who, I think, is by far the best of our
historians, both for beauty and style, and for
deep reflections ; and his translations of poetry
are equal to the originals.' '

Another nobleman, distinguished by his at-
tachment to the arts, as much as by the singularity
of his character, expressed in lively terms his
approbation of Mr. Roscoe's labours. The Earl
of Bristol, then resident at Rome, addressed to
Mr. Cadell, the publisher of the " Life of Lo-
renzo," the following note, in the month of
January, 1797 '• —

" Lord Bristol's compliments to Mr. Cadell,
and begs to know the place of residence of Mr.
Roscoe, the ingenious, learned, and elegant author
of the * Life of Lorenzo de' Medici' — what is his
profession — what his resources in life — -what his
connection — and what present of books, pictures,
or statues might be most welcome to him ?"

In answer to this generous and unlocked for
proposal, Mr. Roscoe addressed to Mr. Cadell
the following letter : —

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 163

" The note from the Earl of Bristol, which
you have been so kind as to send me to-day,
does me the greatest honour, and demands my
warmest acknowledgments.

" I am happy in the present opportunity, by
your means, of conveying to his Lordship my
most grateful thanks for the generous intentions
he has expressed towards me, and of assuring
his Lordship with the deepest sense of his good,
ness, that as I had no motive in publishing my
work but a sincere desire of promoting the cause
of letters, and of doing justice to a great and neg-
lected character, so the approbation of such an
acknowledged judge in works of taste and liter-
ature, as the Earl of Bristol, is the highest com-
pensation which I can possibly receive."

A few months afterwards, Lord Bristol ad-
dressed to Mr. Roscoe a letter expressing in
the warmest terms his admiration of the " Life
of Lorenzo."

"It is impossible to read your elegant and
most interesting history of that ornament of
human nature, Lorenzo de* Medicis, and not feel
at the same time a kind of triumphant enthu-
siasm that we possess a contemporary writer of
such superior talents and such indefatigable
industry, with a choice of the most interesting,
instructive, animating subjects that can improve
his countrymen and honour himself.

" Your documents are as new as they are
M 2

164 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

authentic, and as interesting from the subjects
as from the writer ; and I have only to lament,
that, being doomed, from a very frail state of
health, to drag many years in a southern climate,
I have not been the fortunate person to furnish
so splendid and so useful an historian with those
precious documents of which he has made so
masterly an use.

" In the mean time I venture to exhort you,
' Perge ut incepisti/ and take for your next
theme a subject still more extensive, still more
exalted, and, of course, still more worthy of
your very eminent abilities. 'T is the sequel of
Lorenzo that I propose to you, in the life of
his son, Leo X. You see at once, Sir, what
a glorious, interesting, animating era it embraces ;
and who so fit to paint the manhood of arts, of
science, of religious reformation, as that happy
and elegant writer wrho has so satisfactorily
sketched and delineated their infancy ?

"If, during my abode at Rome, I can in any
way serve you by my connection with the
Vatican Librarian, you may command me."

In another letter, written soon after the fore-
going, Lord Bristol urged Mr. Roscoe to visit
Italy, offering him, at the same time, the use of
his apartments at Rome, or at Naples. This
invitation opened a tempting prospect to Mr.
Roscoe ; but his situation compelled him to de-
cline so gratifying an excursion.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 165

" It will not seem strange to your Lordship,"
he says, in answer, " that I should feel some
desire to vrisit a portion of the earth which has
been so frequently present to my imagination,
or that this desire should be increased by the
accommodation so generously proposed to me by
your Lordship. But, however forcible these
inducements may be, there are others which
are still more powerful, and which prohibit
me from indulging even a distant expectation
of such an excursion. With the claims of a
wife and eight children on my attention, I
should feel little gratification in any pleasures
which required a long absence from home, whilst
the improvement of an extensive tract of waste
moss land in the vicinity of Manchester calls for
my constant superintendence. To say the truth,
too, the striking picture your Lordship has given
of the great seat of arms in ancient, and of arts in
modern times, might almost shake the resolution
of any one who was not determined, like Orpheus
of old, to drag the object of his adoration from
the jaws of hell itself. Under these united im-
pressions, I must relinquish all idea of availing
myself of your Lordship's goodness, assuring you,
however, that I shall always hold it in the most
grateful remembrance."

The sheets of the " Life of Lorenzo" were also
communicated to the late Marquis of Lansdowne,
and by him to Sir Samuel Romilly and M. Du-

M 3

166 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

mont. " I have had," says that nobleman, in a
letter to Mr. Roscoe, " a gouty attack upon my
stomach, which, though it has not confined me,
has indisposed me to the least exertion, and
made it a grievance to me so much as to take
up a pen. But it did not prevent me a moment
from reading the sheets which Edwards sent
me. I assure you that I was quite delighted
with them, and so were two much better judges,
to whom I took the liberty of showing them.
One is a counsel, Mr. Romilly, a particular
friend of mine, who I wish was acquainted with
you, and you with him ; the other is M. Du-
mont, a Swiss, whom you may read of in the
papers as having been a secretary of Mirabeau,
and a political agent of mine."

Lord Lansdowne also, with that friendly
partiality which distinguished his intercourse
with Mr. Roscoe, took an opportunity of pub-
licly eulogising the " Life of Lorenzo." " As
there is no person," says Mr. Roscoe, in a letter
to his Lordship, " whose opinion I looked up
to with so much anxiety as your Lordship's, so
the approbation you have been pleased to ex-
press of my book has given me the sincerest
satisfaction, which is increased by the distin-
guished honour it received from your adverting
to it in so favourable a manner in the House
of Lords."

On the publication of the work Lord Lans-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 167

downe expressed his approbation of it in the
following terms : —

" Assured on all hands of the success of
* Lorenzo de' Medici,' which has been far beyond
any book I remember (and Mr. Hume's pub-
lication of his first volumes is within my me-
mory), we determined to reserve it till we went
to Wy combe, and could have the full enjoyment
of it free from interruption ; and I can venture
to assure you that great as our prejudice was in
its favour, it exceeded our expectation. Miss
Fox has begun to translate the prose pieces in the
Appendix, and I am determined to learn Italian
without delay. In the mean time we are all
suitors to you, to put us into a course of Italian
reading, but I am sorry that we must, for the
present, confine ourselves to translations. I do
not know what the reason is, but Guicciardini
is the only book of reputation which I have not
been able to get through with pleasure."

From various other quarters Mr. Roscoe re-
ceived the most gratifying expressions of appro-
bation. " Permit me," says Dr. Aikin, in a
letter addressed to him in May, 1796, "to re-
turn you my share of thanks for the pleasure
you have communicated to the public by your
admirable ' History of Lorenzo.' I have heard
but one opinion of it, that it is the most elegant
and interesting publication of the literary kind
that has appeared in our language for many

M 4-

168 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

years ; and sincerely am I rejoiced, that a merit
which has been so long conspicuous in the circle
of your friends, is now fairly displayed and made
manifest to the world at large."

Amongst these numerous and gratifying testi-
monies to the merits of the " Life of Lorenzo de*
Medici," the most singular and unlocked for
was that given by the author of " The Pur-
suits of Literature." The political sentiments
which distinguished that celebrated work, and
the severity with which every writer of liberal,
or, as they were then termed, of Jacobinical
principles, was treated in its pages, seemed to
render it very improbable that the writings of
Mr. Roscoe would meet with a more favour-
able consideration. But the attachment of the
author to Italian literature, and his gratitude
for the contributions made to it by Mr. Roscoe,
overcame even the violence of party feeling,
and drew from him the following eulogistic
notice : —

" But hark ! what solemn strains from Arno's vales
Breathe raptures wafted on the Tuscan gales !
LORENZO rears again his awful head,
And feels his ancient glories round him spread ;
The Muses starting from their trance revive,
And at their ROSCOE'S bidding wake and live."

To these lines the following note was ap-
pended : — " See the ' Life of Lorenzo de' Medici,
called the Magnificent, by William Roscoe.' I

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 169

cannot but congratulate the public upon this
great and important addition to classical history,
which I regard as a phenomenon in literature,
in every point of view.

" It is pleasant to consider a gentleman not
under the auspices of an university, nor beneath
the shade of academic bowers, but in the prac-
tice of the law, and business of great extent,
and resident in the remote commercial town of
Liverpool, (where nothing is heard of but Gui-
nea ships, slaves, blacks, and merchandise,) in-
vestigating and describing the rise and progress
of every polite art in Italy, at the revival of
learning, with acuteness, depth, and precision,
with the spirit of the poet and the solidity of
the historian.

" For my own part I have not terms sufficient
to express my admiration of his genius and eru-
dition, or my gratitude for the amusement and
information I have received. I may add that the
manner in which Mr. Roscoe procured from the
libraries at Florence many of the various inedited
manuscripts with which he has enriched the
appendix to his history, was singularly curious ;
not from a fellow or traveller of the dilettanti,
but from a commercial man in the intervals of
his employment.

" I shall not violate the dignity of the work
by slight objections to some modes of expression,
or even to a few words, or to some occasional

170 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

sentiments in the historian of a republic. But
I recommend it to our country as a work of un-
questionable genius and of uncommon merit. It
adds the name of Roscoe to the very first rank
of English classical historians."

To the honour of this highly flattering notice
Mr. Roscoe could not be insensible, proceeding
as it did from a person eminently skilled in the
same studies in which he himself delighted.
He therefore thought it proper to express, to
the unknown author of the poem*, the gratifi-

* Much discussion has taken place with regard to the
author of the " Pursuits of Literature," who, like " Junius,"
still remains involved in obscurity.

The following passage from a letter from Mrs. Riddell,
dated 20th September, 1800, may serve to amuse those who
are curious on the subject : —

" Do your absent friends the justice to believe that they
can think of you, and admire you, at a distance ; those who
know you personally and those who know you by your works
alone. There is one of the latter description in my neigh-
bourhood just now that must be nameless, whose tribute of
respect has been already paid in one of the most extraordinary
productions that has been given to the world for a long while
(I need not mention the ' Pursuits of Literature'). I know
you were not insensible to it. I have had the pleasure of
passing three or four months in the almost uninterrupted
society of the very accomplished writer and scholar at whose
feet the reputation of this work is generally laid, and with
whom the envy and malevolence, as well as the admiration,
now rest. I have had more questions asked me about you
than I was well able to answer, from that quarter, but I could
report nothing that did not seem to confirm the opinion con-
veyed in his very elegant application of a line from Vida: —

" ' Huic Musae indulgent omnes, hunc pascit Apollo.'

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

cation he had experienced at the manner in
which his literary labours had been treated.
At the same time, as a letter of thanks and
compliments only might seem to convey a more
general approval of the principles promulgated
in the poem, than in truth Mr. Roscoe felt, he
undertook the difficult task of limiting the appro-
bation which he expressed. He likewise availed
himself of the opportunity to correct some errors
with regard to himself, into which the author
of " The Pursuits of Literature " had fallen.

" Mr. Roscoe takes the liberty of presenting
his sincere acknowledgments to the author of
the * Pursuits of Literature/ for the great plea-
sure and information he has derived from his
very original, learned, and entertaining work ;
and is happy, at the same time, in an oppor-
tunity of expressing his grateful sense of the
honour done him, in the very favourable notice
taken in that poem of the * Life of Lorenzo de*
Medici ; ' and which is the more estimable, inas-
much as the author of the * Pursuits of Liter-

" I must add one piece of information that will make you
smile. ' The vine-covered hills and gay valleys of France,'
and its sister, ' Unfold Father Time,' I ventured to show to
the severe censor above alluded to, a day or two ago, who not
only passes with unwonted toleration over « a few occasional
sentiments of that tendency in the historian of a republic,'
but condescends to read these with delight, making every
decent allowance for the poetical privilege."

172 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

ature' has so fully evinced, to every unprejudiced
reader, his own thorough acquaintance with the
various subjects which Mr. Roscoe has there
had occasion to discuss.

" As Mr. Roscoe has just observed that a
new and complete edition of the l Pursuits of
Literature,' with corrections and improvements,
is now in the press, he thinks it incumbent on
him to point out some inaccuracies respecting
himself, which would have been of no moment,
had not the author of the * Pursuits of Liter-
ature* placed him before the public in so favour-
able a light. After having mentioned these
particulars, he submits it to the author's judg-
ment, whether they are sufficiently important to
merit correction in the edition now proposed.

" In the first place, Mr. Roscoe begs leave to
assure the author of the * Pursuits of Liter-
ature' that he is not the author of the letter
published under the name of * Jasper Wilson,'
nor had any connection whatever with the writing
or publication of that work. At the same time,
he wishes it to be understood, that he makes
this avowal only for the sake of truth, and not
from the apprehension of any imputation which
might arise from his being considered as the
author of that performance, which he conceives
to be not only strictly constitutional, but as de-
serving, in a high degree, the serious attention
of every real friend to his country.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 173

" Mr. Roscoe also begs leave to notice an-
other inaccuracy in the third part of the ' Pur-
suits of Literature ; ' viz. that the materials for
the * Life of Lorenzo de' Medici' were collected
abroad by a commercial man in the intervals of
his employment. If this, indeed, were the fact,
Mr. Roscoe would think, with the author of the
* Pursuits of Literature,* that it would by no
means detract either from his book or himself,
but this not being the case, Mr. Roscoe thinks
it incumbent on him to notice it. The truth is,
that Mr. Clarke, the gentleman referred to, (and
who, to an intimate acquaintance with most of
the European tongues, unites a thorough know-
ledge of the ancient languages,) was absent from
home for upwards of seven years, in Italy, and
other parts of the Continent ; first, on account
of his health, and afterwards for the same object
that forms the title of the excellent poem before
referred to, without any other business whatever.
Mr. Roscoe observed, soon after the publication
of the * Life of Lorenzo/ a paragraph in one of
the public papers, stating, that the book was
written by a Liverpool merchant, with materials
collected by an outrider, or to that effect. He
did not think it worth his while to contradict the
report of the day, though it was erroneous both
as to him and his friend : but the * Pursuits
of Literature' will reach posterity ; and, as Mr.
Roscoe now hopes, through the partiality of the

174 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

author, to * pursue the triumph and partake the
gale,* he is unwilling, so far as depends on
himself, to give permanency to error.

" Mr. Roscoe would not think that he acted
on this occasion with that candour, which he
hopes it will always be his endeavour to main-
tain, did he not, in expressing his admiration of
the * Pursuits of Literature,' avow a difference
of opinion with respect to some of the political
subjects there discussed; consequently, with
respect to the strictures on some distinguished
characters, whose merits seem to have been
measured by a political rather than by a literary
standard. * Politics,' as the author of the * Pur-
suits of Literature' observes, * are temporary,
but wit is eternal ; ' but if these be the perish-
able parts of his work, they are the only parts
that will perish. It would, however, be unpar-
donable in Mr. Roscoe to object to that freedom
of opinion which the author of the * Pursuits of
Literature' has in so handsome a manner con-
ceded to himself; nor does he conceive that
the difference, to which he has ventured to
allude, is a difference in principles. The sound
learning, and extensive acquaintance, of the
author of the ' Pursuits of Literature,' both with
modern and ancient history, are an ample pledge
that he could not for a moment entertain senti-
ments adverse to the rational liberty, improve-
ment, and happiness of mankind ; even if this

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. IJ5

were not sufficiently evinced, as it certainly is,
by numerous passages in his work. Of the best
mode of obtaining these advantages, thinking
men may be allowed to doubt, and good men
may chance to differ — happy, indeed, if they
would recollect, that, of all the calamities that
can befall a nation, a spirit of mutual jealousy
and vindictive resentment is the worst. Mr.
Roscoe respectfully takes his leave of the author
of the ' Pursuits of Literature,' with assuring
him, in his own emphatic words, expressed in
his last note, ' That the most ardent wish of his
heart is a secure peace after a war for ever to be
deplored, bloody, fatal, and expensive, beyond
example.' And though Mr. Roscoe cannot join
in the opinion that this war was inevitable, he
hopes, that his wishes for the termination of it,
and for the future union, tranquillity, and pro-
sperity of this country, will not on that account
be considered as less sincere."

To this communication the author of the
'* Pursuits of Literature" sent the following
answer, written in that feigned hand which he
made the medium of his communications.

" The Author of the * Pursuits of Literature'
presents his compliments to Mr. Roscoe, and
returns him many thanks for the favour of his
obliging letter. He requests Mr. Roscoe's ac-
ceptance of the new edition of his poem, with
many corrections and additions. He hopes it

176 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

will be found not unworthy of another pe-
rusal.

" The introductory letter is entirely new. The
author of the * Pursuits of Literature* only ob-
served, that Mr. Roscoe was presented by Mr.
Clarke with some of the poems in the Appendix,
not in his ' History of Lorenzo.'

" The author continues the same high opi-
nion of Mr. Roscoe's work. In political matters
he differs a little.

" The hint about Jasper Wilson's letter was
reprinted before Mr. Roscoe's note was received.
If there should be any other editions, it shall
be attended to. The author of the ' P. of L.'
wishes Mr. Roscoe health, happiness, and the
enjoyment of his well-earned and well-deserved
literary honours ; but fears he never may have
the satisfaction of seeing him. The author will
be happy to know if the parcel is received by
Mr. Roscoe."

It would occupy too much space to insert in
this place the various gratifying criticisms which
Mr. Roscoe received from his literary corre-
spondents. A few extracts from the letters of
persons of taste and learning may, however, be
considered as properly admissible. The follow-
ing passage is from a letter addressed to Mr.
Roscoe by Mr. J. C. Walker, the author of the
" History of Italian Tragedy : " — "Allow me, Sir,
to embrace this opportunity of offering you my

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 177

warmest thanks for the pleasure and interesting
information which I derived from the perusal of
your Life of ' Lorenzo de' Medici.' It is, in my
opinion, one of the finest pieces of biography in
the English, or perhaps in any other language.
It is also a clear, elegant, and highly satisfactory
account of the rise of literature and the belle arti
in modern Italy. A hermit among the moun-
tains of Wicklow, literary intelligence and new
publications are slow in reaching me : however,
soon after the appearance of your work, my
friend Mr. Hayley recommended it to me as
a performance of singular merit in every point
of view, and I then, as you may suppose, lost
no time in obtaining a copy."

Fuseli, whose erudition and knowledge of art
made him a very competent judge of many parts
of the work, thus mentions it : —

" So much had I written when your dear
epistle from Buxton found me ; a balm to my
wounded and overbalanced mind : * Ecce iterum
Crispinus ! ' But let me, if possible, forget my
cursed self for one moment, and thank you for
the genuine pleasure your book has given me.
I value it not, you know, because its publication
has been eminently successful, but because it
deserves that success, and more ; and does to you,
and to my friendship for you, infinite honour.
I am perhaps not so great a friend to Lorenzo

VOL. I. N

178 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

as you ; perhaps I may think on some other
points, more closely connected with my pursuits,
somewhat differently from you ; but, take the
whole together, there is no writer with whom, on
all the various topics he treats, I coincide more
heartily than with you. The style is, in my eyes,
original, ample without being loquacious, pointed
without being epigrammatic, and sententious
without affectation.

" As it is likely I shall immediately review it
(you know for whom), I reserve rinding fault
with you for that lucubration.

" The head of Lorenzo prefixed is admirable ;
you could never have got so good a thing here ;
but I am very much mistaken if, by invigorating
a few traits, it would not make an excellent head
of Richard III."

But it was from Dr. Parr that Mr. Roscoe
received one of the most gratifying, and certainly
the most valuable, communications on the subject
of his new work. That learned and accomplished
scholar had no sooner possessed himself of the
volumes, than he applied himself to the critical
perusal of them, with a degree of industry and
accuracy which few persons would have been
capable of bestowing. The result of his labours,
comprised in many folio sheets of paper, con-
taining corrections of the Latin quotations -and
documents, observations on the English narrative,
and various literary notices, suggestions, and

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 179

remarks, applicable to different parts of the book,
he laid before Mr. Roscoe.

The pleasure which this task afforded Dr. Parr,
is described by one of his pupils. " I well re-
collect * the manner in which Dr. Parr devoured
every page of Roscoe's * Life of Lorenzo de*
Medici.' After his first perusal of the book, he
went through it again with me, to whom he
dictated numerous critical observations and sug-
gestions, which he enclosed in a complimentary
letter to Mr. Roscoe ; and which, I believe, led
to a friendly intercourse between the Doctor and
that gentleman."

The following letter announced these valuable
communications : —

" For the liberty I am going to take with a
gentleman whom I have not the honour per-
sonally to know, I have no other, and probably
I could find no better apology, than the frank-
ness which ought to subsist between literary men
upon subjects of literature. Your 'Life of Lo-
renzo de* Medici * had been often mentioned to
me by critics whose approbation every writer
would be proud to obtain ; and, as the course of
reading which I pursued about thirty years ago
had made me familiar with the works of Poggius,
Pico of Mirandola, Politian, and other illustrious

* Field's Memoirs of Dr. Parr, p. 440.

N 2

180 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

contemporaries of Lorenzo, I eagerly seized the
opportunity of borrowing your celebrated pub-
lication from a learned friend at Oxford. You
will pardon my zeal, Sir, and you may confide in
my sincerity, when I declare to you, that the
contents of your book far surpassed my expect-
ation, and amply rewarded the attention with
which I perused them. You have thrown the
clearest and fullest light upon a period most
interesting to every scholar. You have produced
much that was unknown, and> to that which was
known, you have given perspicuity, order, and
grace. You have shown the greatest diligence
in your researches, and the purest taste in your
selection ; and, upon the characters and events
which passed in review before your inquisitive
and discriminating mind, you have united sa-
gacity of observation, with correctness, elegance,
and vigour of style. For the credit of our na-
tional curiosity and national learning, I trust that
the work will soon reach a second edition ; and,
if this should be the case, I will, with your per-
mission, send you a list of mistakes which I have
found in some Latin passages, and which, upon
seeing them, you will certainly think worthy of
consideration. Perhaps I shall proceed a little
further, in pointing out two or three expressions
which seem to me capable of improvement, and
in stating my reasons for dissenting from you
upon a very few facts of very little importance."

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 181

Mr. Roscoe, in acknowledging the receipt of
this friendly letter, expressed the readiness and
satisfaction with which he was prepared to re-
ceive the promised criticisms ; and shortly after-
wards Dr. Parr enclosed them to him, accompanied
by the following letter : —

" I am determined to lose no time in acknow-
ledging my good fortune upon the acquisition of
a correspondent whose candour is worthy of his
talents, and whose letters are fraught with all
the elegance and all the vigour which decorate
his publication. ... I rejoice, Sir, not so much
upon your account, as upon that of your readers,
to whom you have opened so large and so de-
lightful a field of entertainment and instruction,
when you tell me that the * Life of Lorenzo ' has
already gone through three editions, and that
it will soon appear in an octavo form. The
edition open before me is that of 1796. I bor-
rowed it from the learned librarian of New Col-
lege, Oxford ; and I shall return it next week,
because it belongs to a society, where you will
have many readers very capable of appreciating
your merit, and well disposed to acknowledge
and to proclaim it. ... By what the ancients
would have called the afflatus divinus, I anti-
cipated your willingness to let me speak with
freedom ; and your letter justifies me in ascribing
to you that candour which is the sure criterion
and happy effect of conscious and eminent worth.

N 3

182 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

Indeed, Sir, I saw in your work vestiges of ex-
cellence, which, in my estimation, is of a much
higher order than taste and learning. I found
deep reflection, and therefore I expected to find
a dignified and virtuous moderation in the science
of politics. I met with sentiments of morality,
too pure to be suspected of hypocrisy, too just
and elevated to be charged with ostentation ;
and give me leave to add, that they acted most
powerfully on the best sympathies of my soul.
If, in this season of old corruptions and new
refinements, a Fenelon were to rise up among
us ; and if, by a conversion in the understandings
and hearts of sovereigns, not less miraculous
than that recorded of Paul, he were appointed
to train up the heir of a throne to solid wisdom
and sublime virtue, sure I am that he would
eagerly put your book into the hands of his
pupil, and bid him —

" Nocturna versare manu, versare diurna."

"I am no stranger to the sweets of literary
and social intercourse between kindred spirits ;
and therefore I wonder not that you call Dr.
Currie your friend. Present my best compli-
ments to him, and believe me," &c.

" I last night," says Mr. Roscoe, in reply,
" had the pleasure of receiving your packet,
containing your corrections and observations on
the * Life of Lorenzo de* Medici,' and, without

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 183

losing a moment, began the perusal of them.
The great length to which they appeared to
extend, alarmed and surprised me ; the former,
from an idea that my mistakes were almost innu-
merable ; the latter, that the cleansing of such an
Augaean stable had not entirely overcome your
patience. ... It is not incumbent on me to ex-
press the obligations I feel for the great labour
and attention which you have bestowed upon
my work, and which acquire a double value
from that union of free remark and friendly
expression which constantly occurs, and which,
even if I were so weak or so ungrateful as to
feel the slightest impulse of dissatisfaction against
any one but myself for my own errors, have so
effectually removed every emotion of the kind,
that I can justly say I have perused the remarks
from beginning to end with uniform pleasure,
approbation, and respect."

From the periodical critics of this country, the
* Life of Lorenzo de' Medici* met with almost
unqualified praise. In the Analytical Review,
published by Johnson, of St. Paul's Church-
yard, it was reviewed by Fuseli, who at that
time was one of the most active contributors
to the work. The judgment of one who, like
Fuseli, had been long in habits of friendship
with the author, and who had avowed to him
his intention of writing the review, can hardJy
be referred to as an impartial test of the merits

184 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

of the publication ; yet the following character
of it, given at the conclusion of the critique,
will perhaps be thought, by more disinterested
judges, to be not incorrect : —

" Notwithstanding the modesty of the title,
the * Life of Lorenzo de* Medici' unites the
general history of the times, and the political
system of the most memorable country in Europe,
with the characters of the most celebrated men,
and the rise and progress of science and arts.
The greatest praise of the historian and bio-
grapher, impartiality, might be called its most
prominent feature, were it not excelled by the
humanity of the writer, who touches with a
hand, often too gentle, those blemishes which
he scorns to disguise. It is impossible to read
any part of his performance, without discovering,
that an ardent love for the true interests of
society, and a fervid attachment to virtue and
real liberty, have furnished his motives of choice,
and every where directed his pen. The dili-
gence and correctness of j udgment by which
the matter is selected and distributed, notwith-
standing the scantiness, obscurity, or partiality
of the documents that were to be consulted, are
equalled only by the amenity with which he has
varied his subjects, and the surprising extent
of his information. Simplicity, perspicuity, and
copiousness, are the leading features of his style ;
often sententious without being abrupt, and de-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 185

cided without an air of dogma ; that it should have
been sometimes verbose, sometimes lax or minute,
is less to be wondered at, than that it should
never be disgraced by affectation or pretence of
elegance. If we be not always led by the nearest
road, our path is always strewn with flowers ;
and if it be the highest praise of writing to have
made delight the effectual vehicle of instruction,
our author has attained it."

The success of the work on the Continent
was no less striking than in England. From the
scholars of Italy, who were best able to appre-
ciate its merits, it met with a very favourable
reception. The learned Fabroni, with a candour
not inferior to his erudition, was the first to
make it known to his countrymen ; and though
he was on the point of presenting to them a
translation of his own * Life of Lorenzo,' written
by him in Latin, yet, on the perusal of the
English work, he abandoned that design, and
prevailed upon a young gentleman of Pisa, the
Cavaliero Gaetano Mecherini, to give a version
into Italian of the English Life. The trans-
lation was accordingly published at Pisa, in the
year 1799*, under the express patronage of Fa-
broni, who, in the following year, addressed a

* Vita cli Lorenzo de' Medici detto il Magnifico, del Dot-
tore Guglielmo Roscoe ; versione dall' Inglese, 4 torn. 8vo.
Pisa, 1799. See the Illustrations of the Life of Lorenzo,
p. 10. and the Appendix, No. III.

186 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

letter to Mr. Roscoe, congratulating him on the
success of his labours. — " La celebrita," says
that distinguished scholar, " che vi siete acqui-
stata colla Vita di Lorenzo il Magnifico fa che
io non mi penta di avervi dato un impulso di
scriverla con quella ch' io publicai del medesimo.
Voi avete supplito alle mie mancanze, e se avessi
saputo in tempo il disegno vostro, avrei potuto
trarre da quei medesimi archivj da cui presi
molti preziosi monumenti relativi al mio sog-
getto, altre memorie che avrebbero potuto rendere
anche piu copiosa 1' opera vostra. Questa pero
e tale da non lasciare nulla da desiderare. Per-
mettetemi che me ne congratuli con voi, con
me, e coll* Italia nostra ; e questa vi sara anche
piu obligata se, come sento, darete anche al pub-
blico la Vita di Leon X. sulla quale anch' io
ho lavorato, publicando due anni fa il libro inti-
tolato, Leonis X. Pontificis Maximi Vita." * The
approving judgment of so celebrated a scholar
as Fabroni was in the highest degree gratifying
to Mr. Roscoe. " It cannot but give me plea-
sure," he says, in a letter to Mr. J. C. Walker,
" to find that my work has had the good fortune to
meet with the approbation of some distinguished
scholars of that country (Italy), among whom
I have the satisfaction to mention Monsignor

* This letter is published in the Illustrations of the Life
of Lorenzo, Appendix, p. 86.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 187

Fabroni, Principal of the University of Pisa;
to whose valuable * Life of Lorenzo de' Medici,'
and large historical collections on that subject,
I have been so much indebted, and from whom
I have just received a very obliging letter,
offering me all his works, amongst which is a
* Life of Leo X.,' written in Latin, and published
by him about two years ago. Fabroni I consider
as a well informed, liberal, and judicious historian.
His ' Lives of Learned Italians,' of which I have
several volumes, is a great and national work,
which will do him lasting honour. I look up to
him as a sure guide, whenever I travel the same
road with him ; nor is there any man whose
favourable opinion I should have been more
anxious to obtain."

The venerable Angelo Maria Bandini, who
presided for more than half a century over the
Laurentian Library at Florence, and to whose
labours in the field of literature even the most
learned scholars of that country are indebted,
also expressed in strong language his admiration
of the Life of Lorenzo: — " Eccede troppo la
bonta sua verso di me," he observes, in answer
to a communication from Mr. Roscoe, " che
altro merito non ho verso la sua degna persona,
che quello di aver resa la dovuta giustizia all' opera
sua immortale della Vita del Mag00. Lorenzo
de' Medici, uno di quei rari genii che nella rivo-

188 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

luzione del secoli la natura produce, a confusione
del viventi."*

Mecherini's translation was transmitted to
Mr. Roscoe through the Marquis of Douglas,
who was at that time travelling on the Continent,
and who, immediately upon his return, addressed
to Mr. Roscoe the following letter : —

" It is with particular pleasure that I address
myself to a man whose extensive information
and literary abilities have ensured him the esteem
of the public. Nor is his reputation confined
to his own country. I have been not a little
gratified in hearing the * Life of Lorenzo de*
Medici* most highly commended in Tuscany ;
and, as a proof of the estimation it is there held
in, I am desired, by a friend of mine, to transmit
the enclosed letter to Liverpool. I should tell
you, Sir, that the translation of your work, which
ought to accompany it, is not yet conveyed to
England. It is packed up in a box of books
of mine now at Leghorn. As soon as the case
gets to England, I will forward your translation
to Lancashire without delay. I shall say nothing
of the young author who has so industriously
sought to make known your work in Italy. He
is a young man, a friend of Monsignor Fabroni,
and one of the literary society at Pisa ; and, being
attached to the history of his country, naturally

* Illustrations of the Life of Lorenzo, Appendix, p. 82.

LIFE OF WILLIAM IIOSCOE. 189

felt a lively sense of gratitude towards one who
has investigated so interesting a period of it with
so much ingenuity. In any communication, or
in any thing that can testify my personal esteem
for you, I shall most willingly assist you."

On receiving this communication, Mr. Roscoe
immediately addressed to the Cavaliero Meche-
rini the following letter : —

" I had yesterday the pleasure of receiving,
through the kindness of Lord Douglas, your
very obliging letter of the 4th of June last, in-
forming me that you had sent me a copy of your
translation from the English, of the * Life of the
Mag. Lorenzo de* Medici.' This translation I
had, indeed, already seen with the sensations of
a parent who finds his offspring returned from
a distant journey, improved in his appearance,
language, and address. I shall, however, receive
with additional pleasure, when it arrives, the
copy with which you have honoured me ; and
shall regard it as a monument of that sincere
esteem and attachment which a conformity of
studies and pursuits cannot fail to inspire.

" You will readily conceive the satisfaction it
must have afforded the author of a work on
Italian literature, to find that his labours had
been received by the judicious and learned of
that country with not only indulgence, but pro-
tection and favour ; but if there is a person
whose approbation I should have wished to have

190 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

secured beyond that of any other, it is Monsignor
Fabroni, who has shown, by his own truly valuable
and learned productions, how well he is qualified
to judge on those subjects ; and who, in the kind
communications with which he has favoured
me, has displayed a degree of liberality and
candour which have made an indelible impression
on my mind, and secured to him my unalterable
attachment and respect.

" With regard to the work which, by your
partiality, now appears in an Italian dress, let
me be allowed to remark, that although I have
observed, on some occasions, a difference of
opinion between us, as appears by the Notes
you have subjoined, yet, upon the whole, so far
from being surprised at this diversity, I cannot
but think it extraordinary that, in a work of such
length, which has been the subject of considera-
tion to two persons in different countries, of differ-
ent religious habits, and opportunities of acquire-
ment, there should be, in general, such an union
between us, not only in matters of fact, but of
judgment. In one instance (vol. iv. p. 112.), I
could have wished that the original passage had
either been given with the note, or the passage
omitted without so pointed a reprehension ; but
it is of little importance ; and I cannot, perhaps,
expect that, in a passage where I certainly have
not consulted the feelings of a great and respect-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 1Q1

able body of men, I should experience any ex-
traordinary indulgence to my own.

" Since the publication of the work which has
procured me the honour of your notice, I have
employed a considerable portion of my leisure
in compiling the ' Life of Leo X. ;' in which I
have made such progress, that I expect to send
the first volume to the press in the course of the
ensuing winter. As soon as this is completed,
I shall have the pleasure of transmitting you a
copy, as well as another for Monsignor Fabroni, to
whose learned work on the same subject I shall
stand greatly indebted, particularly in the more
advanced stages of my narrative. As this pub-
lication will probably extend to three or four
volumes, it will be some time before I can hope
to see it completed ; but I shall make a par-
ticular object of forwarding to you the volumes
as they come from the press, and shall think
myself much honoured by any observations that
may occur to you on the perusal.*'

Amongst the many other distinguished fo-
reigners who expressed their opinions upon the
work was the celebrated Abate Andres. ' * During
my residence in Italy," says Mr. Francis Drake,
in a letter addressed to Mr. Roscoe, " I lent
your excellent ' Life of Lorenzo de* Medici'
to several persons, who were eager to peruse a
book which had acquired so much celebrity, and
amongst others to the Abbe Andres, a Spanish

192 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

Jesuit, a gentleman of very extensive reading,
and a critic of high reputation in Italy. The
enclosed paper contains his opinion of the
merits of the work ; and I have taken the liberty
to transmit it to you, thinking that it might
be very flattering and grateful to see how few
and how insignificant the inaccuracies are which
the Abbe fancies he has discovered in it, pe-
rusing it, as he certainly did, with the prejudices
of his order and of his religious tenets, and with
a jealous desire of diminishing the reputation of
a work so superior in every respect to any thing
which has been produced by his own country-
men ; for, though he was formerly a Jesuit in
Spain, I believe he is a Florentine by birth." —
" I am equally honoured and obliged," says
Mr. Roscoe, in reply to Mr. Drake, " by your
communication of the paper of remarks on my
* Life of Lorenzo de* Medici/ I had, indeed,
before seen them, through the favour of the
Earl of Bristol ; but, as they were anonymous,
your letter gratifies me by acquainting me with
the name of the author, which I was very de-
sirous of knowing. With the very learned and
extensive work of the Abate Andres, * Dell* Ori-
gine, Progressi, e Stato attuale d'ogni Lettera-
tura,' I am well acquainted, and I think myself
particularly fortunate that I should have ob-
tained, in any degree, the approbation of so
well-informed a critic, who, since the death of

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 193

Tiraboschi of Modena, is, perhaps, the best lite-
rary historian in Italy. At the same time it
must be confessed that his general approbation
is pretty much counteracted by his particular
criticisms, in some of which his reprehensions
seem rather stronger than the occasion re-
quires.*'

The general commendation expressed by the
Abate Andres is not inferior to that of the other
Italian critics. — " II piacere con cui ho letta la
Vita di Lorenzo il Magnifico del Sig. Roscoe, e
la sorpresa e maraviglia che m'ha recato il vedere
in un Inglese non mai venuto in Italia tanta
cognizione e si pieno possesso della letteratura
Italiana, mi fanno sperare che tale opera, coronata
dagli applausi de' Letterati, otterranuove edizioni,
e desiderare che venga in esse purgata d'alcuni
lievi difetti osservabili soltanto perche si trovano
in mezzo a tanti e si belli pregi ; nelle avvenenti
belezze si rendono sensibili i piu piccioli nei." *
The particular remarks of the learned critic are
noticed by Mr. Roscoe in the " Illustrations of
the Life of Lorenzo," where he has, at some
length, defended himself against them.

The Abate Jacopo Morelli, principal librarian
of St. Mark at Venice, and the Canon Domenico
Moreni, of Florence, likewise bore their testi-
mony to the merits of Mr. Roscoe's work. The

* Illustrations of the Life of Lorenzo, Appendix No. IV.
VOL. I. O

194. LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

latter, in his " Bibliografia Storico-Ragionata
della Toscana," has thus spoken of it: — " Con-
tiene questa Vita 1* Istoria di gran parte della Fa-
miglia Medicea * * * un opera si bella che
sembra fatta per P Italia, e che nell* Italia dovea
esser fatta."* In the year 1809, Moreni edited a
volume t which he dedicated to Mr. Roscoe, and in
which he expressed, in high terms, his favourable
opinion of the " Life of Lorenzo.'* — " Ex quo
Laurentii M edicis cognomento Magnifici, Artium
et Platonicae Philosophise Restauratoris Eximii,
Vitam typis Liverpoolianis impressam promul-
gasti, Italorum omnium et praecipue Florenti-
norum admirationem benevolentiam et maximam
tui existimationem tibi conciliasti. * * * Alia qui-
dem extat Laurentii vita, quam non multis abhinc
annis Angelus Fabronius, Academies Pisanae
Prseses, conscripsit, eaque prorsus laadanda turn
rerum delectu, turn elegantia Latini sermonis ;
at Tua latius sese extendit, et praeter propria
Laurentii gesta, quidquid ad rem turn literariam,
turn politicam, turn bellicam illius aevi pertinet,
miro nexu comprehendit, ita ut non Italiae solum,
sed totius ferme Europae historia potius appel-
lari queat. Quapropter literaria Florentinorum
historia maximam inde lucem acquisivit. Revera
plures magni moment! queestionesoptimeelucidas,
et resolvis, scriptores inter se discrepantes con-

* Illustrations of the Life of Lorenzo, p. 39.

t Petri Angelii Borgaei de Bello Senensi, 8vo. Flor. 1809.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE* 195

cilias, eximios viros, eosque plures ea aetate, turn
scientia, turn eruditione pollentes, et Laurentio,
Mediceaeque familiae acceptissimos enumeras,
eorumque scripta percenses, et illustras, monu-
menta insuper perantiqua, et pretiosissima adeo
accurate detegis, et interpretaris, ut etsi in
regionibus longe a nobis dissitis degas, in media
tainen urbe nostra scripsisse videaris. Hanc vero
adeo celebras, adeo laudibus exornas, ut sa-
pientise sedem, doctrinal emporium, ac universae
prope Italiae Athenaeum tune temporis fuisse
affirmare non dubites."

In Germany, as in Italy, the Life of " Lorenzo
de' Medici" met with many admirers, and was
fortunate enough to find a translator in the cele-
brated Kurt Sprengel, of Halle, a name well
known both in the scientific and the literary
world.* That translation appeared at Berlin, in

* The character of this translation is described in a letter
(dated 27th March, 1801,) from M. Hufeland, professor of
jurisprudence at Jena, addressed to Mr. Roscoe. — " La tra-
duction Allemande est tombe dans des mains bien habiles.
L'auteur est M. Curt Sprengel, professeur en medecine et
directeur du jardin botanique a 1'universite de Halle, savant
justement estim6 a cause de sa profonde connoissance dans
I'Allemagne pour etre a nul autre second. II est outre cela
extremement verse dans la litterature Italienne des siecles
passes. Sa traduction de votre ouvrage est tres-estimee ; il
n'y a que peu de morceaux qu'on a censure comme ne rendant
pas le sens de I'original, a la maniere la plus exacte. II a
enrichi cette traduction des notes dont on fait 1'eloge. Je
n'en puis pas juger par mes propres yeux, n'ayant pas la tra-
duction dans ce moment devant moi."

o 2

196 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

the year 1797 't and was enriched by the editor
with many valuable annotations. A dedication
by Sprengel to his brother was prefixed to it,
containing an ingenious parallel between the
characters of Lorenzo and of Pericles.* At the
conclusion of the dedication, the writer has
expressed himself in the following manner with
regard to the general merits of the Life : —

" I received the original of this work from my
friend Forster in July last, to whom it was sent
from England as a very interesting work. Not
only my predilection for Italian literature, the
study of which, as you know, has been the most
agreeable employment of my leisure hours, but
still more my profession, which embraces the
sciences connected with physiology, prompted
me to peruse this work with the greatest attention.
As the author frequently refers to Fabroni, I
endeavoured to procure that work likewise, and
obtained the loan of it from a friend abroad. At
first, I was, like Roscoe, inclined to translate
Fabroni, and to take the additions from Roscoe ;
the more so, as the frequent digressions of the
latter appeared to me to be detrimental to the
unity of the work. But I soon found that the
Italian was hesitating and partial in his judg-
ments, and that he wanted, above all, the spirit
of free discussion and extensive knowledge of
the Englishman. I found, too, that the principal

* Illustrations of the Life of Lorenzo, Appendix No. I.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 197

advantage of Fabroni's work, as a careful sup-
plier of original documents, the most important
of which Roscoe had already inserted in his
work, must be dispensed with in a German
publication ; and, finally that the want of unity
and of a fixed plan, which appeared to me on first
opening Roscoe's work, was only imaginary, and
vanished upon a mature and impartial investi-
gation. I found, lastly, so many charms in the
composition of the Englishman, that I readily
preferred translating his work to rendering Fa-
broni into German, and endeavoured to supply
out of Fabroni such references only as I found
wanting in Roscoe."

The success of the work in Germany was
communicated to Dr. Currie by one of his me-
dical correspondents in that country. " You will
have heard," says Dr. Currie to a friend in
America, " of the great success of Mr. Roscoe's
Life of Lorenzo. It far exceeds the hopes of
his most sanguine friends. A third English
edition is preparing, and two translations into
German are advertised in the Literary Gazette
of Jena : the one by Forster, who went round
the world with Cook ; the other by K. Sprengel,
author of the "Authentic History of Medicine ;"
both professors at Halle. The account given of
it in this Literary Gazette (the first German
Review) is extremely flattering." *

* Life of Dr. Currie, vol. ii. p. 95.
O 3

198 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

It was not until the year 1801, that Mr. Ros-
coe was informed of the translation of his work
which had appeared in Germany. On learning
the fact, he immediately addressed to Professor
Sprengel the following letter : —

" It is only a few days since I had the pleasure
of knowing that a work I published some years
ago — ' The Life of Lorenzo de* Medici* — had
been honoured by a translation into the German
language, to which I find prefixed your very
respectable name. Accept my thanks, Sir, not
for the choice you made of the work, — for you
were led to that by higher motives than a per-
sonal consideration for its author, — but for the
abilities and learning you have shown in sup-
plying my deficiencies,* and particularly for the
beautiful parallel drawn in your dedication be-
tween the character of Lorenzo and that of
Pericles ; of the golden age of Florence, with
that of Athens, — a subject on which I knew my
own deficiencies too well to venture, and which
I rejoice to find executed with a degree of
feeling, learning, and taste, which stamp a real
value on the work. The enthusiasm which I
felt in the composition of my history, and in the
contemplation of the character of the great man
who forms its principal subject, is again revived
by the just commendations you have bestowed
upon him ; and in this similarity of sentiments,
and of studies — this desire to diffuse and to per-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 199

petuate the remembrance of those who have
improved, ennobled, and humanised mankind —
I feel a bond of union, a principle of attraction,
which emboldens me, though a stranger, to re-
quest your favourable regard, your esteem, and
your friendship, as one who, in a remote part of
the world, and under innumerable disadvantages,
has experienced similar emotions with yourself,
and which he can only regret that it has never
been in his power to participate with you.

" I cannot help remarking it as a pleasing
circumstance, that in the course of last year I
purchased, through the means of a mercantile
house here, the Herbarium of the late celebrated
Dr. Forster, at Halle, with whom I perceive you
have lived in habits of friendship. The specifi-
cation of this collection had been entrusted to
your judgment, and I again recognised you in
another capacity. I mention this circumstance
to show that our pursuits have another simi-
larity, and that our dispositions (if I may be
allowed the expression) touch at more points
than one. You will have a pleasure in hearing,
that the Forsterian Herbarium is arrived safe at
Liverpool, and has given perfect satisfaction ;
and that its utility will not be confined to an
individual, as it is now destined to become one
of the chief ornaments of a museum belonging
to a botanical garden, now forming in this place
by the aid of a public subscription, and which I

o 4

200 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

am in hopes will give an impulse to this most
pleasing and attractive study, hitherto so greatly
neglected in this part of the world."

In the year 1799, a French translation of the
Life of Lorenzo appeared at Paris. The trans-
lator, M. Fran9ois Thurot, in a letter prefixed
to the version, containing various criticisms upon
the work, accuses the author of viewing his hero
with too partial an eye, and of being unfaithful
in his representations of the political history of
Italy. In other respects, he speaks of the work
in more commendatory terms: — " J'ai trouve
comme vous, citoyen, le livre de M. Roscoe ex-
tremement recommandable, par les idees libe-
rales qui y sont repandues, par les connoissances
etendues, et les recherches profondes qu'il ren-
ferme sur Thistoire et sur la litterature de la
republique de Florence, et meme du reste de
1'Italie. D'ailleurs, le ton de candeur, qu'y regne
partout, la maniere noble et decente avec la-
quelle 1'auteur discute ou critique les opinions
des ecrivains que Pont precede dans la meme
carriere, inspirent une estime reelle pour son
caractere personnel, en meme temps que son
style harmonieux et elegant, son gout pur et
eclaire, donnent de ses talens 1'idee la plus avan-
tageuse." *

In America, the Life of Lorenzo was not re-

* Illustrations of the Life of Lorenzo, Appendix No. II.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 201

printed till the year 1803, when an edition was
published at Philadelphia, by Messrs. Bronson
and Chauncey •, and the whole impression was
immediately disposed of. " It would be a proof
of insensibility," says Mr. Roscoe, in a letter to
those gentlemen, " of which I am incapable,
were I not highly gratified by this extension of
my work through a new continent, and by the
long list of eminent and respectable persons
who, by their liberal encouragement of your
proposed edition, have afforded it so unequivocal
a testimony of their approbation ; and this satis-
faction is heightened by the consideration that
this is the sentiment of a country where poli-
tical, civil, and religious liberty are enjoyed in
a degree almost unexampled in the history of
the human race."

CHAPTER VI.

1796—1799.

Mr. Roscoe, dissatisfied with his profession, relinquishes it.
— Letters to Mr. Ralph Eddowes — Mr. Rathbone.—
Visits London — becomes a member of Gray's Inn. —
Society in London. — Letters to Dr. Currte, Mr. Rath-
bone, and Mr. Daulby. — Lord Orford's death. — Sir
Isaac Heard. — Washington's genealogy. — Return to
Liverpool. — Translates the "JBalta"qfL. Tansitto. —
The Duchess of Devonshire. — Sonnet to Mrs. Roscoe. —
Letter from Lord Holland. — Dr. Currie's criticism. —
Letter to Dr. Wright. — Visit to Mr. Daulby at Rydal
Mount — his death — sonnet addressed to him — lines on
his death. — Establishment of the Athenaeum at Liverpool.
— Letters to Mr. Edwards respecting Mr. Coleridge. —
Robert Burns — letters respecting him — monody on his
death — letter from Dr. Moore. — Publication of third
edition of Lorenzo de* Medici. — Letter to Dr. Parr.

205

CHAPTER VI.

I HE branch of the profession which circum-
stances had induced Mr. Roscoe to adopt, was,
in many respects, ill suited to his character and
tastes ; and the desire which he felt to abandon
it is frequently expressed in his letters to Mrs.
Roscoe, written during those occasional absences
from home, which his professional avocations
required. In a letter addressed to her some
years after the commencement of his practice,
he says, — " The more I see of business, the
more I lament the weakness of the understanding
and the depravity of the human heart, and that
sometimes wilful and sometimes involuntary
blindness, which prevents the appearance of
truth. Would to God I could find myself eased
of the weight of business, and restored to your
arms ! and if I might indulge a still further wish,
it should be to retire with you to some peaceful
retreat, where, with a sparing competence, we
might live to ourselves, and bid adieu to an em-
ployment which preys upon my happiness, and
disgusts me with myself and mankind."

206 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

In another letter, also addressed to Mrs. Roscoe,
from Carlisle, where he had been disappointed
by the result of a business in which he was
much interested, he says, — " Believe me, I am
almost disgusted with my profession, as it affords
me a continual opportunity of observing the folly
and villany of mankind. I must, however, sub-
mit to my task till such time as Providence shall
think proper to enable me to dispense with it; and
as soon as that is the case, it is my fixed reso-
lution to withdraw myself from so hateful an
employment. To obtain this desirable end, my
own endeavours shall not be wanting, and I trust
they will not be in vain. Those needless ex-
penses which have hitherto been a continual
drain shall be abolished, and whatever can be
obtained by an honourable and upright attention
to business shall be secured by economy and
prudence."

Though the success of Mr. Roscoe in his
profession had fully equalled his expectations,
and had been the means of affording him a very
competent livelihood, he continued to look with
anxiety for the period when he might feel him-
self justified in retiring from the anxieties of
business. The scheme in which, in the year
1793, he had engaged, in conjunction with Mr.
Wakefield, for draining and cultivating an ex-
tensive tract of peat-moss in the neighbourhood
of Manchester, continued to occupy a consider-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 207

able share of his attention, and in the ultimate
success of this undertaking he felt the greatest
confidence. To this source he probably looked
for a recompence in relinquishing his profession,
— a step which he took in the course of the year
1796, not long after the publication of his " Life
of Lorenzo de' Medici." The motives which
led to this change are shortly adverted to in
the following extract from a letter to his friend
Mr. Ralph Eddowes, of Philadelphia : —

" Since I last addressed you, I have made a
very important change, though not a local one,
and have entirely relinquished my profession ;
having, however, first made an arrangement with
my late partner, Mr. Lace, productive of some
advantage to me. This I have been induced to
do rather from a concurrence of many reasons,
than from any one predominant circumstance ;
but I must, in truth, confess that a conscious-
ness that I was not suited for the profession, nor
the profession for me, has long hung about me,
and that I have taken the first opportunity
which has been allowed me of divesting myself
of it altogether. Add to this, that my under-
taking in the draining of Chat andTrafford mosses
bears a favourable aspect ; and that 1 shall be
under the necessity of being so frequently absent
from Liverpool, as would render it impossible
for me to carry on the business of the law with
satisfaction either to my clients or myself."

208 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

A note to Mr. Rathbone, written about the
same time as the preceding letter, manifests very
clearly the tone of Mr. Roscoe's mind at the
period of this change.

" I am much obliged by the tailpiece to your
letter of to-day, though, to say the truth, it
amounts to nothing more than calling me (in
very friendly terms) an idle and extravagant
fellow, who is playing off the artful trick of get-
ting hold of the conveniences and pleasures of
life without performing any of its duties. This
I relish the worse, as I am not sure that there is
not some degree of truth in it ; but I am much
surer, that to toil and labour for the sake of
labouring and toiling, is a much more foolish
part ; and that it is the curse of God upon
avarice, that he who has given himself up too
long to its dominion shall never be able to ex-
tricate himself from its chains. Surely man is
the most foolish of all animals, and civilised man
the most foolish of all men. Anticipation is his
curse ; and to prevent the contingency of evil, lie
makes life itself only one continued evil. Health,
wisdom, peace of mind, conscience, are all
sacrificed to the absurd purpose of heaping up,
for the use of life, more than life can employ,
under the flimsy pretext of providing for his
children, till practice becomes habit, and we
labour on till we are obliged to take our de-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 209

parture, as tired of this world as we are unpre-
pared for the rational happiness of the next.

" I have much more to say to you on this
subject, but this is not the place for it. I shall
therefore leave you to your

« Double double,

Toil and trouble,
Fire burn, and caldron bubble,'

whilst I go to the arrangement of the fifth class
of my plants, and take my chance of a few
years in a workhouse, some fifty years hence,
which I shall think well compensated by having
had the lot to live so long."

Whether at the time of his retiring from
business, Mr. Roscoe had any idea of resuming
his profession, at some future period, as a bar-
rister, does not appear ; but from his silence
with regard to such a design in his confidential
letters, it may be inferred that no plan of the
kind had been arranged. In the month of Fe-
bruary, 1797» he visited London ; and it was
probably during his residence there that he de-
termined to become a member of one of the
inns of court, with a view to being called to
the bar. He accordingly was entered at Gray's
Inn, and kept Hilary term, which was the only
progress he made towards this new object. The
reasons which prevented him from the further
prosecution of this design were various. The
affairs of his late partnership were not yet finally

VOL. i. p

210 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

arranged, his agricultural undertaking required
his frequent presence, while that love of retire-
ment, which had prompted him to abandon one
branch of the profession, ultimately induced him
to relinquish the study of the other. Though
late in life for so important a change, it is to be
regretted that Mr. Roscoe did not prosecute his
intention of being called to the bar, possessing,
as he did, those qualities which must in all pro-
bability have rendered his success certain.

The literary reputation which he had lately
acquired by the publication of the " Life of Lo-
renzo de* Medici," and the kindness of the Mar-
quis of Lansdowne, who happened at that time to
be in town, afforded him the means of forming
some new and valuable acquaintances, in the
political as well as in the literary world. He had
the gratification of becoming personally known
to Mr. Fox and Mr. (now Lord) Grey, and
of acquiring the friendship of Dr. Moore, the
author of " Zeluco." Much of his time was
also agreeably spent amongst persons whom he
had long known and esteemed, but whose society
his distant residence permitted him rarely to
enjoy.

In his letters to his friends, Dr. Currie and
Mr. Rathbone, he mentions, with pleasure, the
various persons whom he had seen. In a letter
to the former he says, —

" Your introduction to Dr. Moore was re-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 211

ceived by him with great kindness, and has been
the source of much satisfaction to me. My wife
and I dined there on Thursday. The party
were Dr., Mrs., and Miss Moore ; the Doctor's
two sons, James, the surgeon, and Charles, the
lawyer ; Mr. Gifford, the poet ; Fuseli ; ma
femme, and myself. I hope I need not say
our time passed very pleasantly. The Doctor
is full of anecdote ; Fuseli is a hero in convers-
ation ; Charles gave us some good imitations of
the oratory of Burke, Dundas, &c. ; Gifford is a
little, rather common looking man, but shrewd
and intelligent, though not very talkative. I
have paid the Doctor several morning visits,
and he has called on me. At one of these he
showed me the original of Burns's life, and
several other letters, papers, and poems ; all of
which, he says, are at your service, if you write
the life. He will also consent, I doubt not, to
his letters being printed, after having first pe-
rused them. Fuseli is an old acquaintance of
the Doctor's, whom he calls a good, unctious,
sociable, family man.

" I have been frequently with the Marquis
(of Lansdowne) at morning visits, and am to
dine with him on Tuesday. At one of these
morning calls I met with Mr. Grey, and had a
good deal of interesting conversation with "him
and the Marquis ; and yesterday I met Mr. Fox
there, and had a long discussion on the face of

p 2

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

affairs at home and abroad, &c. In these acci-
dental rencontres I consider myself fortunate ;
but I shall not at present attempt to sketch the
conversation that took place. All I shall say
is, that opposition, to judge from its leading
members, seems to have now no certain system
or bond of union. Whether these visits to the
Marquis were mere ceremony, or portend some
new arrangement, I know not, but presume the
former. I left Mr. Grey with the Marquis, but
out-sate Mr. Fox, as he instantly left the room
when I got up to go away. The people here
begin to talk about the French preparations ;
but nobody seems to care. The fact is, they
are too busy to attend to such matters. ' Two
shall be grinding at the mill,' &c. : you are too
well read in the sacred volumes to stand in need
of an interpretation."

The following letter was written, a few days
afterwards, to Mr. Rathbone : —

" This morning, and at this hour, I was to
have had the superlative honour of being in-
troduced to the Duchess of Gordon ; but re-
collecting that I could appear before her Grace
in no other capacity than as one of those
puppies,

' who dangle up and down,

To fetch and carry sing-song thro' the town,'

I have thought proper to decline the challenge ;
and instead of acquiring new fashionable ac-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 213

quaintance, shall devote this half hour to old
solid friendship,

" How you will envy me, when I tell you,
that last Saturday, I had an hour's familiar con-
versation with Mr. Fox, at the Marquis of Lans-
downe's, where I before had accidentally met
Mr. Grey. Of these rencontres, I put nothing
on paper ; not altogether because of the old
proverbs, * Littera scripta manet,' and * Nescit
vox emissa reverti ; * nor yet because of the pro-
visions of the two acts ; but because it would
occupy too much of my paper, and require more
time than I can at present spare. I dine to-day
with the Marquis ; but think there will be no
company. Should any thing interesting occur,
either there or elsewhere, I will again take up
my pen.

" The people here are of opinion the French
will pay us a visit; but they have no doubt
that British courage will, with God's assistance,
soon make them repent of their temerity. A
shopkeeper in the Strand told me, that as God
had fought for us when the enemy appeared off
Ireland, He would not surely desert us when
they attacked England. What can such a pious
people have to fear from a nation of infidels ?
When miracles are daily performed in our favour,
it seems absurd to have recourse to human means.
A few days since, I sent a short paper to * The
Morning Chronicle,' pointing out the necessity

p 3

214 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

of immediately adverting to the alternative of
peace, whilst it was yet practicable ; but it has
not been suffered to appear. In fact, every thing
is matter of party ; and as the ministry set up
the cry of danger, the opposition papers take the
other side of the question, and affect to consider
their wailings as a further pretence to raise
loans and impose taxes ; and those who have
only at heart the real good of the country, with-
out regarding either ministry or opposition,
cannot obtain even a hearing. I much fear the
predominating idea of men of all parties is in-
dividual, personal aggrandisement, and that the
welfare of the country is only a secondary con-
sideration ; or rather, perhaps, a cloak to cover
their real purpose. There are only two classes
of men ; viz. those who would sacrifice them-
selves for their country, and those who would
sacrifice their country to themselves. Which of
these are the most numerous I shall not pretend
to say ; though I think I have in the course of
my life met with an instance or two of the
former."

To his brother-in-law, Mr. Daulby, then re-
sident at the Lakes, Mr. Roscoe writes in a
lighter vein : —

" From the midst of all the delights that
London affords, I condescend to salute the
lonely inhabitants of the solitary hills and cheer-
less wilds of Westmoreland. Here, every thing

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 21,5

is life and gaiety; the rattling of wheels, the
winding of horns, and the ringing of bells, per-
forming a continual chorus ; whilst with you,
the chirping of a robin red-breast, or the lowing
of a cow, is all that gratifies your ears. At
this hour you are, perhaps, complaining of the
clear and nipping air, or incommoded with the
beams of the noonday sun ; . whilst here an im-
penetrable vapour screens us from his rays, and
forms a soft and sociable atmosphere, breathed
from the lungs of a million of people, who would
not exchange this happiness for any other the
world could give.

" But to tell you the truth, my dear Dan, I
begin to be shockingly tired of my abode. Ex-
cept Fuseli's pictures from Milton, which are
certainly much beyond even my expectations, I
have seen little which has pleased me in the way
of art."

In another letter to Mr. Daulby, he says,
" So far my journey has been agreeable enough j
but the hurry of engagements discomposes one's
mind, and the idea of neglecting to return civi-
lities conferred embitters those which we re-
ceive. I have seen many literary and singular
characters, and formed some connections, which
may prove agreeable if not useful. Pictures I
have bought none, — prints not above 40s. worth,
— books a few ; and to-day I have ordered a

p 4

216 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

few plaister busts and figures to be sent to Liver-
pool. I have seen many eminent political cha-
racters, but must take another opportunity of
giving you particulars."

During his stay in town Mr. Roscoe had
hoped to have an opportunity of becoming per-
sonally acquainted with Lord Orford, who had
frequently expressed a desire to meet him. Un-
fortunately at this period his Lordship's state of
health was such as to preclude the possibility of
an interview. " Soon after my arrival in town,"
says Mr. Roscoe, in a letter addressed to Dr.
Currie, " I called at Lord Orford's, but found
him dangerously ill, and not in a state to be
seen. I therefore introduced myself to his in-
timate friends, the Miss Berrys, who resided a
long time in Italy, and with whom I dined
yesterday. They told me they had mentioned to
him that I was in town, to which he answered,
* Alas ! it is too late — I shall never see him.'
He afterwards said, ' It is a melancholy thing
to be so much dead and so much alive!' It is
not yet improbable that he may so far recover,
as that I may get a sight of him, which I confess
would much gratify my curiosity." The illness,
however of this venerable nobleman, who had
held a distinguished rank in the literary world
for more than half a century, proved fatal.

Amongst the persons with whom Mr. Roscoe

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 217

at this time became acquainted, was the late
Sir Isaac Heard, Garter principal King at Arms.
This acquaintance led him to the knowledge of
a singular fact respecting General Washington,
which he afterwards communicated to an Ameri-
can gentleman in the following letter: — " I
have now the pleasure of performing my promise
of repeating to you, by letter, the information I
gave you in Liverpool respecting the memorial
of General Washington and his family, drawn up
in his own handwriting, and sent by him to the
late Sir Isaac Heard, Garter King at Arms, to
be enrolled by him in the records of the Heralds'
College, London.

" It is now about thirty years since I had the
good fortune to form an acquaintance with Sir
Isaac Heard, who was a kind friend, an excel-
lent patriot, and, I need scarcely add, a very
worthy man. On visiting him one day in his
office in Doctors' Commons, I observed a por-
trait over the chimney piece, not sufficiently
characterised for me to decipher, and to the
best of my recollection not in the first style of
art.

" I could, however, perceive that it was not
the representation of the personage who might
have been expected to preside at the fountain of
honour; and on expressing my surprise to Sir
Isaac, and enquiring whose portrait it was, he

218 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

replied, in his usual energetic manner, ' Whose is
it ? Whose should it be ? but the portrait of the
greatest man of the age, — General Washing-
ton.' On my assenting to this remark, he added,
* Now, sir, I will show you something farther.'
And turning to his archives he took out some
papers, consisting of several sheets closely written,
saying, * Here, sir, is the genealogy and family
history of General Washington, with which he
has, at my request, furnished me, in his own
hand- writing, and which I shall have a particular
pleasure in preserving amongst the most pre-
cious records of my office ; ' which I have no
doubt he has accordingly done, and where I pre-
sume they may still be seen on application to
the proper authorities."

The visit of Mr. Roscoe to London was not
extended beyond a few weeks, and he gladly
returned to his home, and to the enjoyment of
that leisure he had lately secured. But a state
of complete inactivity was little suited to his
character, and his mind turned eagerly to the
same pursuits with which it had been recently
occupied. Of his employments at this time a
pleasanter picture cannot be conveyed than that
given in the following short extract from a letter
addressed by Mrs. Roscoe to her sister, Miss
Griffies : — " My husband is a happy man in his
various resources. He has this afternoon got a
charming importation of plants from Vienna,

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 219

which completes a part of his botanical col-
lection. He is deep in Greek and historical
researches, and, above all, you will be glad to
hear, in good health and spirits."

Italian literature again engaged his attention,
at first without any particular object, but as he
proceeded, new designs occurred to his mind.
In perusing the writings of the Italian poets
of the sixteenth century, probably with a view
to the composition of his " Life of Leo X.,"
he had been greatly struck with the " Balia"
of Luigi Tansillo, ,the contemporary of Ariosto
and of Tasso. The simplicity and elegance
of this poem, and the skill with which the
subject to which it is addressed was treated,
excited Mr. Roscoe's warm admiration, and
induced him to present a version of it to the
English public. The pleasant occupation also,
which such a task afforded, was an additional
encouragement to him to proceed. " It is not,*'
he says in his preface to the poem, " the trans-
lator's intention to assert, that a previous con-
sideration of these circumstances led him to
undertake the present version of the poem.
The truth is, that having of late enjoyed a
greater share of leisure than he has formerly
experienced, he has employed some part of it
pleasantly to himself, if not usefully to others,
in an occupation which, without requiring the
exertion of original composition, satisfies the

220 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

besoin d'agir, and by calming the reproaches
allays the irritation of total indolence. He must
also be allowed to observe, that the hope of pro-
moting, in some degree, the laudable object which
the author himself had in view, if it did not
lead him to undertake the translation, operated
as a chief inducement to lay it before the
public."

The lines near the conclusion of the poem, in
which the author alludes to the noble ladies of
his own country —

" Or se vedessi (o giorni benedetti ! )
Le Colonne, le Ursine, le Gonsaghe
Ed altre tai co' cari figli ai petti — "

suggested to the translator the introduction of
a name distinguished amongst the most distin-
guished of the English nobility. But unwilling
to take this step without her permission, he
applied to his friend Dr. Moore on the subject,
from whom he received the following reply : —
" I spoke to the Duchess of Devonshire on the
subject you mentioned in your letter. She will
be highly pleased with what you propose. She
was undoubtedly the first person of her rank in
England who introduced the laudable custom
which is recommended in Luigi Tansillo's poem,
and she is rewarded by the great resemblance in
constitution and disposition between the child
she nursed and herself. Her Grace has sufficient

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

taste to be a great admirer of the * Life of Lo-
renzo ;' and she is the more delighted with what
you intend, because she relished the English
translations in that work particularly. She spent
six months in Tuscany ; understands the Italian
perfectly; and preferred several of the translations
to the original ; and your book afforded her ad-
ditional pleasure by recalling some very agreeable
scenes to her memory."

The lines in which her Grace's name occurs
are the following, at the conclusion of the
poem : —

" O happier times, to truth and virtue dear,
Roll swiftly on ! O golden days appear !
Of noble birth, when every matron dame
Shall the high meed of female merit claim;
Then loveliest, when her babe in native charms
Hangs on her breast or dances in her arms ;
Thus late, with angel grace along the plain,
Illustrious Devon led Britannia's train :
And whilst by frigid fashion unreprest,
She to chaste transports opened all her breast,
Joy'd her loved babe its playful hands to twine
Round her fair neck, or midst her locks divine,
And from the fount with every grace imbued,
Drank heavenly nectar, not terrestrial food.
— So Venus once, in fragrant bowers above,
Clasp'd to her rosy breast immortal Love ;
Transfused soft passion thro" his tingling frame,
The nerve of rapture and the heart of flame.
Yet not with wanton hopes and fond desires
Her infant's veins the British matron fires ;
But prompts the aim to crown by future worth
The proud pre-eminence of noble birth."

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

The Duchess of Devonshire, in a note to
Mr. Roscoe, expressed the gratification she had
received from this introduction of her name, and
the satisfaction she felt " in seeing the practice
of nursing, of which she had ever been an en-
thusiastic advocate, so honoured and recom-
mended as it was by the poem Mr. Roscoe has
beautifully translated."

To this translation the following sonnet ad-
dressed to Mrs. Roscoe was appropriately pre-
fixed : —

" As thus in calm domestic leisure blest

I wake to British notes th' Ausonian strings,
Be thine the strain ; for what the poet sings
Has the chaste tenor of thy life exprest.

And whilst delighted, to thy willing breast,
With rosy lip thy smiling infant clings,
Pleased I reflect, that from those healthful springs
— Ah not by thee with niggard love represt —

Six sons successive, and thy later care,

Two daughters fair have drunk ; for this be thine
Those best delights approving conscience knows ;
And whilst thy days with cloudless suns decline,

May filial love thy evening couch prepare,
And soothe thy latest hours to soft repose."

" There is perhaps no part of the book," says
Lord Holland, in a letter thanking Mr. Roscoe
for a copy of the " Nurse," " that I like better
than that which is exclusively your own, the
t sonnet to Mrs. Roscoe : of the merit of that
species of composition, which is so highly es-
teemed and minutely criticised by the Italians,

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 223

I am afraid I have not a very accurate notion ;
but I know that I seldom read any in English
that give any pleasure, and do not recollect one
in the language, at this moment, which seems
to me as pretty as that which you have prefixed
to your translation."

The translation of the "Nurse" was submitted
to Dr. Currie, who returned it with the following
criticisms : —

" I have perused the * Nurse' with attention,
and upon the whole with much pleasure ; and I
see nothing either in the general impression it is
likely to produce, or in the effect of particular
passages, that should prevent your publishing it,
or indeed render the measure doubtful. You
must not, however, expect that it will increase
the reputation of the biographer of * Lorenzo de'
Medici.' It is enough that it is not unworthy of
him, and that you give it to the world, as the
truth is, not as a laboured effort of your talents,
but as the occasional occupation and amusement
of a vacant hour, in the midst of more serious en-
gagements. The versification is easy and flowing,
and possesses considerable variety. Your numbers
rise and fall with the sentiment they embody,
which is generally, but not always, distinctly ex-
pressed. I think you have a few lines which
might have been improved with a little care ;
but it is perhaps well to exhibit, in some cases,
the marks of a little negligence to heighten the

224 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

general effect. The compliment to the Duchess
of Devonshire, which every body will read and
quote, is very fine. The four lines beginning
* So Venus,' &c. are singularly beautiful ; but
I wish you had been prompted by the muse to a
better or smoother termination. My objection
is to prompts the aim ; it is not, however, very
material.

" The prose in your preface and notes is, as
usual, easy, luminous, and correct. I see nothing
to object to as to sentiment, and little or nothing
as to style. Yet you have, I think, got one or
two Latinisms. Why should Ranza concede the
MSS. It might have been as well to deliver
them, or perhaps still better to have given them
up, p. 10. In the same page, line 10., you use
adverts to, as I suspect, for mentions; and in p. 14.
adverted to is certainly employed for detailed,
examined, or discussed. You are very fond of
adverting.

" I have only farther to observe, that it will
be wished by the ladies that you had trans-
lated the quotations in the notes as well as in
he preface. I have no doubt the ' Nurse* will
make some noise." *

In a letter to Dr. Wright of Edinburgh (the
friend of Dr. Currie), Mr. Roscoe thus alludes to
his translation : —

* Life of Dr. Currie, vol. ii. p. 335.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

" I beg you to accept my very sincere thanks
for your present of your * Medical Admoni-
tions,' and for the obliging letter by which they
were accompanied. * * * I, too, have had the
temerity to rank myself as a fellow-labourer in
the same good cause ; and though I have lived
too long to expect that any striking effects can
be produced on the public morals and manners,
either by exhortation or reproof, yet I certainly
feel a sensible pleasure in seeing my translation
recommended by those whose approbation is
alone worth estimating; and in the hope that
if these days of empyricism, of prophecy, of
folly, and of barbarism, should be destined ever
to have a termination, this slight production may
have some effect in promoting those affections
by which society is bound together, and effecting
those beneficent purposes at which it avowedly
aims. Such are the hopes of authors ! But the
gloom thickens round Europe ; and in the con-
test between principles pushed to their wildest
extremes on the one hand, and total want of
principle on the other, it is difficult to find a
spot on earth where the mind can with satis-
faction repose. In this mighty convulsion, all
interference can only ruin the intermeddler ;
and the song of exultation, like the voice that
animated it, must now be still. In the mean
time, there is some consolation in reflecting,
VOL. i. Q

226 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

that the path of utility is not entirely closed ;
and that, although the people of the earth will
allow of no interference in their devout determin-
ation to cut each others' throats, it may yet be
allowed to recommend it to their consideration,
whether it is proper they should be poisoned by
quacks, or murder their children by unnatural
neglect."

In the summer of the year 1797 the leisure
which Mr. Roscoe had acquired permitted him
to visit his brother-in-law, Mr. Daulby, then re-
siding at Rydal Mount, near Ambleside ; but
he only arrived to be present at the last mo-
ments of one whom he had long esteemed and
loved.

A refined and cultivated taste for the fine arts,
and for elegant literature, led in early life to an
intimacy between Mr. Daulby and Mr. Roscoe,
which was afterwards drawn closer by dearer
ties. Some years after the death of his first wife,
Mr. Daulby was fortunate enough to win the
affections of Miss Roscoe ; and her brother was
happy in seeing her hand bestowed upon so
amiable and accomplished a man. It was pro-
bably about the period of this attachment, that
the following sonnet was addressed by Mr. Roscoe
to his friend : —

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 227

" Daulby ! who oft hast bow'd beneath the smart

Of keen affliction, yet surviv'd to know
More blissful hours return, and through thine heart

Health's temperate flood and native spirits flow ;
Think not the hand that led thee through the gloom

Will now forsake thee — still thy breast shall prove
The lasting transports of a happier doom,

Each charm of health, and every sweet of love.
— Yet should thy God permit the storm to rise
(His ways inscrutable to mortal eyes),

Dim thy fair hopes, and bid thine ills increase,
Despair not ; for while Virtue is thy guide,
Secure thy bark shall stem the bursting tide,

And gain the haven of eternal peace.''

Amongst other works of art Mr. Daulby pos-
sessed a very complete and valuable collection
of the prints of Rembrandt, of whose works he
published a catalogue, which still maintains a
high character among the collectors of prints.
To this volume Mr. Roscoe added a preface of
considerable length.

The taste and accomplishments of Mr. Daulby
(which have descended to his children) are ad-
verted to in the following lines, written by Mr.
Roscoe at the time of his death : —

" O formed by Heaven of purer clay

To kindle at the Poet's lyre,
To catch from Art her magic ray,
And melt at Music's raptured wire ;

Q 2

228 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

Yet may'st thou still with cold regard

These transitory joys resign,
Secure of Virtue's high reward,

The approving smile of Power Divine."

It is one of the first duties of those who have
derived from literary studies that gratification and
improvement which they always impart, to afford
every opportunity to others of obtaining the
same rational enjoyments. This duty was never
neglected by Mr. Roscoe, who was ever anxious
to communicate to those around him the ad-
vantages of which he himself partook, and who
was especially desirous to cherish in others that
taste for elegant literature which had contributed
so much to his own happiness. His influence in
this respect was felt, from a very early period, in
the circle of his own immediate friends ; and he
eagerly took advantage of every opportunity to
produce similar impressions upon the minds of
his townsmen.

Previously to the present year (1797)> the only
literary institution which Liverpool possessed was
a library, of a limited nature, the books of which
were circulated amongst the subscribers. An
establishment like this, though useful and im-
proving, was obviously incapable of supplying
that assistance which the researches of a scholar
require. A gentleman of considerable literary
talents, and an intimate friend of Mr. Roscoe,

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 229

the late Mr. Edward Rogers of Liverpool, struck
with the want of a more extensive library, and
pleased with an institution devoted to literary
purposes which he had seen at Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, proposed to several of his friends the
erection of a similar establishment at Liverpool.
For some time the project was considered im-
practicable ; but at length, by the exertions of
Mr. Thomas Taylor, another of Mr. Roscoe's
friends (member of a family distinguished for
virtues and talents), and of Dr. Rutter, a
number of gentlemen, amongst whom was Mr.
Roscoe, were induced to assemble together for
the purpose of introducing the proposed esta-
blishment to the notice of the public. A pro-
spectus was drawn up by Dr. Rutter, and the
plan being approved of, a public meeting was
called, and measures taken to carry it into effect.
Although party politics at that time ran very
high in Liverpool, they did not operate to the
detriment of this design; and persons of all shades
of opinion concurred in the establishment of an
institution devoted solely to literary improve-
ment.

The Athenaeum consists of a news-room and
library, now containing a very valuable collection
of books in various departments of literature,
upwards of 16,000 in number. Each proprietor
has, in addition to the personal use of the library,
the right of nominating one young person as a

Q 3

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

reader, and of introducing any number of
strangers.

Such is the origin of an institution which has
served as a model for many similar establishments
in different parts of the country. It has been
frequently supposed that the idea of it originated
with Mr. Roscoe, an error which will be cor-
rected by the above details. He was indeed
a very active member of the committee, and de-
voted much of his time and attention to the
selection and arrangement of the library ; not
the less eager to promote the interests of the
new establishment because he could not claim
for himself the honourable title of its founder. *

The attachment of Mr. Roscoe to literature
was extended to those who, like himself, had
laboured in her service. His desire to be useful

* The services of Mr. Roscoe to this institution were com-
memorated, after his death, in the following resolution : —

" At the General Annual Meeting of the Proprietors,

July 12th, 1831,

" On the motion of Mr. Ottiwell Wood, seconded by Mr.
Adam Hodgson,

" It was resolved,

" That the proprietors of the Athenaeum cannot separate
without expressing their grateful recollection of the services
this Institution derived at its first establishment from the
late William Roscoe, Esq., and the great regret which they
feel that it can no longer be benefited by the advice and
assistance of a man whose literary, scientific, and benevolent
exertions so justly entitled him to their esteem and ad-
miration

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 231

to such as stood in need of assistance is mani-
fested by the following letter, addressed to the
Rev. Mr. Edwards of Birmingham : —

" I had, some time since, the favour of a letter
from you, intended to have been delivered by
Mr. Coleridge, but had not the pleasure of see-
ing him, as I believe he altered his intended
route, and did not pay a visit to Liverpool.

" I read with great pleasure his Condones ad
Populum, which I think contain marks of that
disinterested ardour in the cause of liberty, and
that abhorrence of violence and bloodshed under
whatever pretence they may be resorted to,
which in times like the present are so particu-
larly necessary to be inculcated. Mr. Coleridge
is one of the few individuals who have perceived
the absurdity of the maxim, that it is lawful and
expedient to shed the blood of those by whom
it is likely that blood will be shed, and which
thus authorises the commission of an immediate
and actual crime, for the purpose of preventing
one which is remote and uncertain, the pretexts
of tyrants and of anarchists, at all times and in
all countries.

" It was with much concern I found he had
adopted the resolution of discontinuing his
periodical paper of the ' Watchman/ I conceive
he did not give it a sufficient trial, and that if he
had persevered he would have found the extent
of its circulation increase. Periodical works of

Q 4*

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

this nature are generally slow in taking root,
but when once established are very lucrative ;
and I have no doubt but the paper in question
would, if continued, have been of very extensive
utility.

" With the little volume of Mr. Coleridge's
poems I have been greatly delighted — his genius
is of the highest class. The characteristics of a
fervid imagination and a highly cultivated taste
are visible in every page. I must, however, be
allowed to remark, that where excellence is so
abundant selection might be employed to advan-
tage. He ought not, for a moment, to forget
that he writes for immortality, which many have
attained by condensing their excellencies, and
many have lost by diffusing them through too
large a mass. There are few authors who would
not lose a considerable share of their reputation
were the public in possession of all they wrote.

" It would give me much pleasure to be inform-
ed, that Mr. Coleridge's prospects in life are such
as are likely to give free scope to the exertions
of those uncommon talents of which he is pos-
sessed ; and I shall esteem myself much obliged
by any information you can give me respecting
him.

" His concluding address to his ' Watchman'
deeply affected me, as it spoke the regret of a
virtuous mind disappointed in its efforts to do
good. I have since heard that Bristol is not a

-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 233

place likely to reward his merits. If so, might
you not recommend it to him to pay a visit to
Liverpool, where I know many who would be
happy to see him, and who would have a par-
ticular pleasure in promoting any plan which he
might suggest for rendering his talents advan-
tageous to his country and to himself?"

Amongst the writers of the day there was no
one whose genius and whose history interested
Mr. Roscoe more deeply than those of Robert
Burns. The vigour, beauty, and simplicity of
his poetry, and the manly candour of his cha-
racter, excited his warmest admiration. In his
" Life of Lorenzo de' Medici" he took the op-
portunity of paying a well deserved compliment
to the poet, and was about to transmit to him a
copy of that work, when he was informed of his
death. But the productions of Mr. Roscoe were
not wholly unknown to Burns, in whose hand-
writing a copy of the song " O'er the vine-cover'd
hills" was presented to Mr. Roscoe by Mrs.
Riddell, accompanied with the following note: —

" Our friend Dr. Currie has mentioned to
me that the enclosed poem, found amongst
Burns's manuscripts, which we were looking
through this morning, might be acceptable to
you to place amongst your own, from the cir-
cumstance of its being written in the poor bard's
hand about two years ago, and given by him to
myself, as a poetical production to which he wras

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

enthusiastically partial." The interest which
Mr. Roscoe felt in the fate of the Scottish poet
is expressed in the following letter to the Rev.
Mr. Edwards of Birmingham : —

" It has of late been my opinion that great ta-
lents are, in the present times, often repressed for
want of a very small degree of encouragement ;
and the death of poor Burns, which has occurred
since I wrote to you, confirms me in this opinion.
I cannot express to you how sensibly I am af-
fected by this event. I had not, indeed, the
pleasure of his personal acquaintance ; but at the
time he was taken ill he was preparing for a
journey to Liverpool, and had done me the
honour (and it is an honour of which I shall
always be proud) of sending me word that he
intended to pay me a visit. His example has
fixed the value of high poetical attainments in
Scotland, and they amount to the place of an
exciseman, with a salary of fifty pounds per an-
num. Such has been the munificence of the
Scotch peerage and the Scotch gentry to a man
who has done more honour to his country than
all the throat-cutters it ever bred. May they
never have another opportunity of insulting
genius with paltry and insidious rewards ! "

The whole of Burns's manuscripts, " even to
the copybook in which his little boy had been
practising his writing*," having been sent to

* See the Life of Dr. Currie, vol. i. p. 271.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 235

Dr. Currie, were, with the exception of such as
were manifestly unfit for publication, laid by him
before Mr. Roscoe, who perused them, as it may
be supposed, with the deepest interest, and made
various suggestions with regard to their publi-
cation.* The hints thus given met with the entire
approbation of Dr. Currie, who produced in his
" Life of Burns " one of the most delightful and
instructive pieces of literary biography in the
language.

The indignant sympathy felt by Mr. Roscoe
in the fate of Burns was again evinced in a mo-
nody on his death, which was introduced by Dr.
Currie in his life of the poet. " I formerly
mentioned to you," says the biographer in a let-
ter to Mr. Syme, the friend of Burns, " that I
had received two monodies on Burns, — one by
Roscoe, another by Rushton. They have both
great merit, especially the first ; but they have
a common fault, — that of attacking the in-
gratitude of Burns's countrymen too violently.
I objected this to my friend Roscoe, but I have
not been able to prevail on him to alter his poem
in this or in several other particulars ; partly be-
cause there is no reasoning down the indignation
of a poet on a subject of this kind, and partly
because what poetry he writes, which is very
little, he executes at a single exertion, and cannot
be got to retouch." t

* Life of Dr. Currie, vol. i. p. 271. f Ibid. p. 268.

236 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

The indignation of Mr. Roscoe again breaks
out in the following letter : —

" I enclose you Robert Burns's narrative. I
send you also my rhymes, which have unaccount-
ably taken somewhat of a satirical turn, and will
perhaps be thought (at least in the North) more
severe than the occasion requires. From what
I can collect from his writings and his narrative,
I am of a different opinion ; and cannot but think
that he fell a victim to the unfeeling neglect of
his opulent countrymen, whose patronage he
courted by every means consistent with the in-
dependence of his character, and whose bounty
terminated in chaining him to a station which
differs in no respect from that of a galley-slave,
except that the latter only shackles the body,
and the former both the body and the mind."

The monody was much admired by all those
who, like its author, sympathised deeply in the
fate of the poet. The powerful effect which it
produced on the feelings of Dr. Moore is de-
scribed in the following manner by that gentle-
man : —

" I have been just telling your friend Dr.
Currie that I was employed till after four o'clock
this morning in reading the first volume of the
new edition of ' Burns/ and in wandering through
the other three volumes desultorily. After
breakfast I took up the first again, and began to
read your poem to my wife and daughter. When

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 237

I came to the stanza beginning ' With step-
dame eye,' &c., my heart, which was much af-
fected before, became at once so overwhelmed
with an intermingled torrent of grief and indig-
nation, that I could not articulate another line
for some time."

He then describes the emotion which affected
him on reading other passages in the poem, and
adds, —

" Though Mrs. Moore and my daughter were
greatly affected, yet they were astonished at my
agitation, because, notwithstanding my sensibility
to the power of poetry, age has rendered me less
liable to the melting mood than formerly ; and I
write this to thank you for restoring me, in this
instance, to my youthful emotions."

In the course of the year 1799 Mr. Roscoe
was called upon to prepare for the press a new
edition of his " Life of Lorenzo de' Medici," in
which he availed himself of the numerous re-
marks, and the valuable information furnished to
him, as it has been already stated, by Dr. Parr,
to whom previously to the publication of the
new edition he addressed the following letter : —

" Having now been called upon by Messrs.
Cadell and Davies for a corrected copy of the
* Life of Lorenzo de' Medici,' which I pro-
mised to prepare for the octavo edition, I
have again gone over all the remarks with
which you so obligingly furnished me some

238 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

time since, and have finally incorporated your
emendations into my work. At the same time
I have made minutes of these alterations in the
text corresponding to your remarks, in which I
have at times stated the manner in which such
alterations have been made ; and in the very few
cases in which I have not strictly complied with
your suggestions, I have endeavoured to give
my reasons for such variation. These minutes I
have not extended through the Latin correc-
tions, because they have been adopted without
a single exception, and in all cases with evident
improvement to the sense. I now send you the
minutes, accompanied with such additional notes
as I have found necessary, in consequence of the
documents with which you have furnished me.
The former will at least show, that I have not
been insensible of the value of any remark with
which you have honoured my work ; the latter,
as I have taken the liberty of acknowledging to
whom I am indebted for them, I think it indis-
pensably necessary you should see, not only as
they will serve to show what conclusions I have
been induced to make from them, but that my
ignorance or carelessness may not attach any
blemish to a character to which it is impossible
for me to add the slightest celebrity.

" When I consider the immense trouble which
you have taken on my behalf, and the kind and
friendly manner in which you communicated

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 239

your remarks, I feel a sense of obligation which
I shall not attempt to express, but which I am
sure I shall retain unimpaired as long as I live.

" With the octavo edition, I am under the
necessity of giving a translation of the Italian
poems of ' Lorenzo de' Medici.' Of the success
of this attempt I have great doubts ; but I have
engaged myself in the undertaking, and, indeed,
made some progress in it. I before hinted to
you some of my objections to this measure, and
received your very judicious opinion with the
respect it always deserves. I now send you a
few specimens, from which you will be better
enabled to say what you think of this business.
My principal difficulty is, as to the poem called
* The Seven Delights of Love ; ' the conclusion
of which is greatly altered from the original, —
but I know not whether affected modesty be not
worse than open indecency.

" I hope you will think the * Oraisia' of Lorenzo
makes some amends for the levity of his other
writings. It appears to great advantage in the
original, whatever it may do in the translation.

" And now let me thank you for your last
very obliging and welcome letter, which arrived
and cheered me at a time when I was out of
health, out of spirits, and on the point of removing,
with a large family, to the house I am now in,
about six miles from Liverpool. Yes, my dear
sir, we must meet ; and I hope in the course of

240 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

the present summer, at this place, where, if you
can compound for the turbulence of children
of all sizes, I can promise you a most hearty
welcome and tolerable accommodation, with the
society of a few friendly neighbours. Our friend
John Pearson may I hope be induced to accom-
pany you into this neighbourhood. If you take
a journey this summer, and have not yet fixed
your route, I shall not be without hopes that my
wishes in this respect stand some chance of be-
ing gratified.*'

CHAPTER VII.

1799—1805.

Mr. Roscoe purchases Allerton Hall, and retires thither ~
his projected mode of life — his studies. — Inscription —
letter to Fuseli — Change in his prospects — becomes a
partner in the bank of Messrs. Clarke — letters to Dr.
Parr and Lord Lansdowne — his studies suspended —
his opinions on political affairs — letter to Lord Holland.
— Establishment of the Botanic Garden at Liverpool —
prospectus of that institution — address delivered pre-
viously to the opening of the garden. — Letter from Dr.
Rush of Philadelphia. — Correspondence with Dr. Smith
— visit of the latter to Allerton — dedication by him of
" Exotic Botany" to Mr. Roscoe. — Mr. Roscoe becomes a
Fellf/w oftheLinnean Society. — Fuseli visits Allerton —
letter from him. — Mr.Mathias — his Canzone, addressed
to Mr. Roscoe — correspondence with him. — Dr. CfomV—
his friendship for Mr. Roscoe — his character and death.
— Letter to Mr. Macneil. — Death of Mr. William Clarke
— his character, and correspondence with Mr. Roscoe —
lines addressed to him at Lisbon — letter on his death. —
Death of Mr. Fox. — Letter to Lord Holland. — Visit
to London. — Political affairs. — Letters to Lord Holland
and Dr. Parr — visit of the latter to Allerton.

VOL. J.

243

CHAPTER VII.

IT seldom happens that those who have been
long engaged in the active duties of life retain
that taste for retirement which is often felt in
youth. But it was otherwise with Mr. Roscoe,
who never ceased to look forward with anxiety
to the period when he should be enabled to re-
treat, from the harassing cares of business, to the
tranquillity of the country, and the peaceful
pleasures of his literary occupations. After up-
wards of twenty years spent in a laborious and
distasteful profession, the object he had so long
had at heart appeared to be accomplished. In
the spring of the year 1799, he became the
purchaser of a moiety of the Allerton estate, a
valuable property lying about six miles from
Liverpool. Allerton Hall, which was attached
to that portion of the estate bought by Mr. Ros-
coe, was originally erected in the reign of James I.,
but a part of that structure had been taken down
about the middle of the last century, and a hand-
some stone edifice erected in its place. The
house was surrounded by gardens disposed in
the old English taste, and environed on every

R 2

244 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

side by ample woods. To this pleasant resi-
dence Mr. Roscoe retired, to prosecute at leisure
his literary labours, and to enjoy the more
healthy employments which agriculture and bo-
tany afford. Here he hoped, as he expressed
himself in a letter to Dr. Parr, to realise the
admirable picture which Jortin has drawn of the
happiness which such a life affords : — " An honest
and sensible man is placed in a middle station,
in circumstances rather scanty than abounding.
He hath all the necessaries, but none of the
superfluities, of life ; and these necessaries he
acquires by his prudence, his studies, and his
industry. If he seeks to better his income, it is
by such methods as hurt neither his conscience
nor his constitution. He hath friends and ac-
quaintances of his own rank. He receives good
offices from them, and he returns the same. As
he hath his occupations, he hath his diversions
also ; and partakes of the simple, frugal, obvious,
innocent, and cheerful amusements of life."
His chief literary employment at this period
was the Life of Leo X., in which his leisure
permitted him to make considerable progress.
He ,also resumed the study of the Greek lan-
guage ; and, from a note prefixed by him to the
Glasgow edition of Homer, it appears that the
Odyssey had been this year the subject of his
study. The charms of the country likewise re-
vived his taste for poetry, and the following

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 245

Inscription, which bears the date of 1800, was
probably intended for one of the pleasant alcoves,
with which the old gardens of Allerton were
embellished.

" INSCRIPTION.
1800.

" Whoe'er thou art whom chance or choice may lead
To share this rustic seat, this friendly shade,
The healthful gales from wild-flowers fresh that blow,
And all the extended prospect spread below ;
If Nature's simple charms attract thy mind,
If glows thy breast with love of humankind,
All these be thine. For whether on thine eyes
Green woods, bright streams, or peopled hamlets rise,
Thy soften'd bosom then not only proves
A sympathy with all that lives and moves,
But (while the varied scene around thee glows)
With all that blooms, that murmurs, or that flows."

The benefit to his health which he found in
his change of residence and his country occupa-
tions is referred to in the following extract of a
letter written in the summer of 1799, to Mr.
Fuseli : —

" I avail myself of this opportunity of inform-
ing you, without being questioned on that subject,
that I am yet in existence, and, what I know you
will be glad to hear, in better spirits than when
I last wrote to you. From the experience I
have hitherto had of my new residence, it pro-
mises to be productive of every advantage which
I expected to find from it : — good air, oppor-

R 3

246 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

tunity, or rather necessity, of exercise, and a
degree of retirement which is indispensably
necessary to my peace of mind. The latter you
will, perhaps, believe, when I tell you that I am
a mile and a half from any neighbour, but, at
that distance I have on every side of me some of
my most intimate and valuable friends. Such
being the advantages I enjoy here, you will not
wonder that I am exerting myself to secure the
means of remaining here, without the necessity
of further interference in the tumult of the town,
which I hope in a short time I shall be able to do.
I consider it as one great secret in the art of
living, especially at a time when all the neces-
saries of life are so high, to obtain subsistence
immediately from the earth ; and accordingly I
am surrounded with cows, hogs, turkeys, geese,
cocks, hens, and pigeons ; which, according to
the good old maxim, (" Take, Peter, kill and
eat",) I plunder and slaughter without mercy;
and shall be very angry with you if you tell me
(aS is not unlikely) that I am keeping up my
paltry existence at the expense of the lives of a
number of beings, each of which is ten times
happier than myself."

The tranquil enjoyments of the country, how-
ever, were not destined to be long his portion.
In less than twelve months after removing his
residence to Allerton he became deeply involved
in the laborious anxieties of commercial life. The

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 24-7

family of Mr. William Clarke, whose friendship
and literary assistance, in procuring materials for
the " Life of Lorenzo," have already been men-
tioned, had been long engaged in an extensive
banking-house in Liverpool, the affairs of which,
owing to various circumstances, were, at the con-
clusion of the year 1799, found to be in a posi-
tion of considerable difficulty. The aid of Mr.
Roscoe, as a confidential adviser, was requested
by the partners, and he did not hesitate to lend
his best assistance. Chiefly through his instru-
mentality, the difficulties which existed between
the Liverpool bank and their London cor-
respondents were removed, and it was the
anxious wish of the latter, as well as the former,
that Mr. Roscoe should render his labours com-
plete, by becoming an active partner in the
banking-house at Liverpool. The sacrifice
which this change required was undoubtedly
great. It compelled him to resign a mode of
life which had long been the cherished object of
his wishes ; to forego, at all events for a time,
those literary pursuits upon which his mind was
so ardently bent ; and to plunge ijato an untried
and hazardous occupation. The motives which
led him to take the part he did, are explained in
the following extract from a letter addressed by
him, in the spring of 1800, to Dr. Parr. After
stating how happy he had felt in his country
retirement, he says, " The step I took was not

R 4

248 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

a matter of choice and inclination, but of im-
perious necessity. No sooner did it offer itself
to me, than my determination was fixed. It was
not my gratification, my pursuits, or even my
interest, upon which the question arose. It was
the irresistible claim of friendship, the right
which society at large has upon the exertions of
every individual, when he conceives he can be
useful, that determined my purpose. I felt that
my non-compliance would have embittered my
future life. But though I have thus heartily
devoted myself to my new undertaking, it need
not surely follow that I have lost my individuality,
and am become a newr being. From the wreck
of my former life and pursuits can nothing be
saved ? Must I for ever hereafter open no books
but journals and ledgers, and breathe no air but
that of the town ? Happily for me, this is by no
means the case ; and though, from the peculiar
state of the business when I engaged in it, it has
hitherto required my unremitting attention, yet
I already perceive the probability that, at no
great distance of time, I may again enjoy some
portion of those pleasures to which I supposed
I had bade a last farewell. The daily routine of
my engagements does not appear so irksome as I
had reason to expect. I have the advantage of
kind colleagues and able assistants. My pro-
vince, to say the truth, has already become rather
that of superintendence and direction than of

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 249

labour and detail. I still can retain with ease
and satisfaction my country residence ; my daily
exercise is conducive to my health ; my evenings,
and occasionally a larger portion of time, will
soon be spent with my family : and, upon the
whole, what I have sacrificed appears to me to
be much less than what I at first expected."

In a letter to Lord Lansdowne, written about
the same time, Mr. Roscoe thus mentions the
alteration in his prospects : —

" My own occupations and pursuits have, in
the course of the last winter, undergone a total
change ; and from the situation of a recluse in a
lonely residence six miles from Liverpool, I have
again entered into the world, and taken an active
part in the banking-house of my friends Clarkes,
the conduct of which has devolved chiefly on
myself. This measure was so sudden and un-
expected, that I had scarcely time to analyse the
motives of my conduct, before I was called on to
decide ; but it was rather the impossibility of
refusing, than the desire of accepting, that de-
termined what part I should take. The situation
of the concern, at the time I entered into it, was
such as to require the whole of my attention,
which has been exclusively devoted to it for the
last six months ; but I have every reason to flatter
myself that, in a very short time, so close an at-
tendance may be unnecessary, and that I may

250 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

be enabled to devote some portion of my time to
other pursuits."

For a short period, the pressing engagements
of his new situation put almost a complete stop
to his literary labours. " The new occupations
in which I am engaged," he says, in a letter to
Mr. J. C. Walker, " have hitherto prevented me
from bestowing the least attention on my studies.
' Leo ' is perfectly at rest, and I begin to doubt
whether I shall ever rouse him from his slumbers."
It was not until the close of the year 1800, that he
resumed his pen, when, as the winter approached,
he devoted the long evenings, after his return
from Liverpool, which he visited daily, to the
prosecution of his biographical task. His interest
in these labours was about this time revived, by
the acquisition of some valuable manuscript ma-
terials from Florence, for which he was indebted
to the kindness of Lord Holland, and the care of
Mr. Penrose, chaplain to the British Embassy at
the Court of Tuscany.

The sentiments of Mr. Roscoe on the state of
political affairs at this time are developed in
the following letter to Lord Holland, dated Oc-
tober 26, 1800. After adverting to the question
of peace, he says —

" As I have been led to mention this subject,
I will further venture to add, that, of all the
opportunities which have hitherto occurred, of
opening the eyes of the people to their true situ-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 251

ation, the present seems to me the most favour-
able ; and that, if any thing could induce the
great and enlightened statesman, to whom you
stand so nearly related, once more to exert his
talents in the service of his country, this must
be the time. The avowed object of the deliber-
ations of parliament is to examine into the cause
of the present distress. The nation at large are
anxious for the result. An opportunity for ne-
gotiation is held out by our enemies. We are
threatened with a hostile combination from the
North ; which, whatever may be its other con-
sequences, will inevitably further abridge our re-
sources. In this situation, every exertion will
be made by the promoters of the war, to elude
the knowledge of the real origin of the evil.
The blame will be laid upon earth and upon
heaven ; upon any thing but that which they
well know to be the effective cause.

" In the Upper House, your Lordship will, I
hope, confute their destructive notions, with
that clearness of argument and dignified freedom
of speech, which have always characterised your
exertions in the. public service. The sentiments
of the Marquis of Lansdowne, at such a time
and on such an occasion, would produce an in-
conceivable effect ; but, in the other House,
who is there that can place this great truth in so
luminous a point of view — who can enforce it

252 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

with so much energy, with so much sincerity,
with so much eloquence, as Mr. Fox ?

" From the time that the minister attempted
to starve the people of France, England may date
the commencement of its present distress. The
immense purchases of grain made by government,
at exorbitant prices, overturned the mercantile
system of that traffic, and, by disgusting the re-
gular men of capital, threw the trade into other
channels. Since that period, the constant in-
terference of government and its agents in the
purchase of every article of food, for an immense
military and naval establishment, has been a con-
stant and enormous drain upon both the living
and dead stock of the country ; and as govern-
ment, in fact, never pay for what they consume,
or in other words, are paid back by the people,
it matters not to them at what price it is pur-
chased. Nay, the agents of government enrich
themselves ; whilst the middle and lower classes
of the community are pining under deprivations,
or perishing in want.

" Faintly as I have been able to state my
reasons, I flatter myself your Lordship will agree
with me, that the opportunity is not only favour-
able, but the only one likely to be afforded for
producing an important and beneficial effect;
and that even the abilities of Mr. Fox could not
have a greater subject for their exertion. His
comprehensive mind will see how the war con-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 253

nects itself with our distresses at every point,
and in every quarter ; and should his endeavours
happily be united with those of the friends of
peace in both Houses, we may not yet despair
of seeing a powerful and decided impression
made upon the public mind.

" I know not what apology I can make for
the freedom I have taken in thus expressing my
sentiments on so momentous a subject, unless I
may be allowed to plead the interest which I feel,
in common with your Lordship, in the honour
and prosperity of the country ; and the desire of
seeing it rescued from the grasp of those, who
are not less hostile to the real happiness of this
nation than they are to that of the human race."

As the calls of business became fewer and less
importunate, Mr. Roscoe was able to devote a
larger portion of his time to other pursuits ;
amongst which the science of botany occupied
some share of his attention. This study, and
more particularly that branch of it which relates
to English botany, had, from a very early period,
been one of the favourite employments of his
leisure hours. It was, therefore, with much satis-
faction, that he perceived an inclination amongst
several of his townsmen to encourage the esta-
blishment of a Botanic Garden near Liverpool ;
and, in conjunction with his friends, Dr. Rutter
and Dr. Bostock, he prepared the following

254- LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

prospectus, in which the advantages of such an
institution are pointed out : —

" The prevailing taste for botanical studies,
and the liberality displayed by the inhabitants
of Liverpool in the encouragement of scientific
pursuits, afford sufficient reason to conclude, that
the establishment of a botanical garden in the
neighbourhood of the town is at present a de-
sirable and attainable object. To enlarge upon
the advantages to be derived from botanical
knowledge is not the object of this address. It
is presumed, that its application to agriculture,
gardening, medicine, and other arts, essential to
the comfort and even support of life, is generally
acknowledged. The claims which it has to our
attention, when considered merely as an elegant
amusement, ought not to be neglected — an
amusement calculated to interest the understand-
ing, whilst it promotes the health and vigour of
the bodily frame. Even the cultivation of the
fine arts, however alluring in its progress, and
dignified in its object, must yield the superiority
to the study of nature ; for who will venture to
compare the most finished productions of the
painter and the sculptor, with the originals,
whence they derived their ideas of beauty and
proportion ?

" It is, however, necessary to the progress of
this science, that the student should be supplied
with actual and living specimens. The imper-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 255

fection of language to give an adequate idea of
any vegetable production, must be generally ad-
mitted ; and the most beautiful and accurate
drawings fall infinitely short of that delicacy and
minuteness of parts, on which its scientific dis-
tinctions essentially depend. Even the plants
themselves, when collected and attempted to be
preserved, are deprived of so many peculiarities
incident to their habit and growth, that it is only
from living plants that we can flatter ourselves
with the hope of obtaining those substantial
distinctions which are necessary to discriminate
those numerous productions, or of extending the
limits of the science itself.

" Without public institutions for the purpose
of preserving such plants as are imported into
the country, and in the acquisition of which so
many men of great learning and talents have de-
voted themselves to long and dangerous voyages
and expeditions, there is every reason to believe
that considerable numbers will soon be lost to us.
The great repositories are at present those of
the nurserymen in the vicinity of London ; but,
when profit is the chief object, it is to be feared
those plants alone will be propagated which will
best repay the attention of the cultivator. Many
scientific and opulent individuals, in different
parts of the kingdom, have contributed not only
to establish this study by their wealth, but to
extend it by their talents ; yet the taste , of an

256 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

individual may be supposed to attach to some
favourite class of productions ; and, at all events,
a private collection cannot be expected, either
in copiousness or permanency, to contend with
a public institution, which is calculated to com-
prehend every known vegetable production, and
to preserve them for a continued series of years,
which, in many instances, is indispensably ne-
cessary to their perfection.

" Of the expense and attention bestowed by
many respectable individuals in supporting a
pleasure-garden, the environs of the town aiford
numerous instances : what, then, must be the
advantages of a garden properly laid out, and
supplied with every beautiful production of ve-
getable nature which this kingdom affords, yet
enjoyed at the small expense of an annual sub-
scription ? Even this subscription will, it is pro-
bable, be more than repaid, by the privileges
to which it is intended the subscribers shall be
entitled, in having such plants or seeds divided
among them as may be the increase of the gar-
den, and can be occasionally spared without im-
poverishing the collection. To those who are
already engaged in making a selection of plants,
this institution will afford constant assistance,
and may frequently preclude the necessity of
obtaining them from a distance, at great expense
and risk."

The call thus made upon the liberality and

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

public spirit of the inhabitants of Liverpool was
speedily and satisfactorily answered ; and a suf-
ficient sum of money being subscribed, a piece
of ground was presented, by the Corporation of
Liverpool, for the purposes of the institution, and
the garden was opened in the summer of 1802.
A meeting of the proprietors being called pre-
viously to the opening, it was suggested to Mr.
Roscoe, who then filled the office of vice-pre-
sident, and whose duty it was, in consequence
of the death of the president, Richard Walker,
Esq., to preside at the meeting, that it would be
desirable that an address should be delivered on
the occasion. Although two or three days only
intervened before the meeting, he assented to
this request ; and upon the day of the meeting
he read before the proprietors an address, dis-
playing the pleasures and advantages of botanical
science. After vindicating the study of botany
from the charge of being a trifling employment,
and a mere nomenclature tending to burden
the memory with a list of names, he thus states
what may be termed the moral advantages of
the science : —

" Nor are the advantages incidentally derived
from these employments of slight account. Who-
ever has opened his mind to comprehend the
extensive system of the vegetable kingdom, as
arranged by that great father of the science, the
immortal Linnaeus, and has traced it through

VOL. i. s

258 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

its various connections and relations, either de-
scending from generals to particulars, or ascending
by a gradual progress from individuals to classes,
till it embraces the whole vegetable world,
will, by the mere exercise of the faculties em-
ployed for this purpose, acquire a habit of ar-
rangement, a perception of order, of distinction,
and subordination, which it is not, perhaps, in
the nature of any other study so effectually to
bestow. In this view the examination of the
vegetable kingdom seems peculiarly proper for
youth, to whose unperverted minds the study
of natural objects is always an interesting occu-
pation, and who will not only find in this employ-
ment an innocent and a healthful amusement,
but will familiarise themselves to that regulated
train of ideas, that perception of relation between
parts and the whole, which is of use not only in
every other department of natural knowledge,
but in all the concerns of life. Independently,
too, of the habits of order and arrangement
which will thus be established, it may be justly
observed, that the bodily senses are highly im-
proved by that accuracy and observation which
are necessary to discriminate the various objects
that pass in review before them. This improve-
ment may be carried to a degree of which those
who are inattentive to it have no idea. The
sight of Linnaeus was so penetrating, that he is
said never to have used a glass, even in his

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. £59

minutest enquiries. But our own neighbourhood
affords a striking instance of an individual*,
wrho, although wholly deprived of sight, has
improved his other senses, his touch, his smell,
and his taste, to such a degree, as to distinguish
all the native plants of this country with an ac-
curacy not attained by many of those who have
the advantages of sight, and which justly entitles
him to rank with the first botanists in the king-
dom/'

The museum of Dr. Forster of Halle, men-
tioned in the following passage, had been
purchased by Mr. Roscoe for his own private
collection, but was transferred by him to the
Botanic Garden.

" In addition to these objects, it is also thought
expedient that a library of works in natural his-
tory, and a collection of specimens of dried
plants, should be formed with all possible ex-
pedition, as appendages to the institution. The
foundation of the latter is laid by the purchase
of the museum of the late Dr. Forster, which
has been brought from Halle, in Germany,
and is now under the care of our manager.

" This collection comprises many thousand
specimens collected by the Doctor and his son, in
the South Sea islands and other parts, and large
contributions of plants from those illustrious bo-

* Mr. Gough of Kendal.
S 2

260 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

tanists, Linnaeus, Thunberg, and Jacquin, with
whom Dr. Forster was in correspondence.

" To these we have no doubt of making consi-
derable additions, from the liberality of several
eminent men, who have already kindly expressed
their intentions in this respect ; among whom I
may venture to mention Dr. Wright, President of
the College of Physicians at Edinburgh, who is
now obligingly preparing to send us specimens
of the plants which he has himself collected in
foreign countries, or which have been transmitted
to him by his learned correspondents from dif-
ferent parts of the world."

A copy of the address having been presented
by the author to Dr. Rush of Philadelphia*,

* In the year 1812 Dr. Rush transmitted to Mr. Roscoe
a piece of the tree under which William Penn signed his
treaty with the Indians. This was converted into an ink-
stand, and forms the subject of a small poem by Mr. Roscoe,
which has been several times printed. The friendliness of
the sentiments entertained by Dr. Rush for Mr. Roscoe may
be learned by the following extract from a letter from a
gentleman to whom Mr. Roscoe, in the year 1810, had given
an introduction to Dr. Rush:- — " With the conversation and
society of Dr. Rush I have been gratified and delighted far
beyond my powers of expression, and shall ever consider my
acquaintance with him as the greatest obligation your kind-
ness has conferred. Blended with an appearance that uni-
versally inspires both veneration and esteem, he possesses
the most fascinating suavity of manners, and powers of con-
versation, which (in a greater degree than I ever before wit-
nessed or even could conceive) unite intelligence and wisdom
with the most pleasing and unassuming address. ' If you go

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 26l

he received from that eminent and excellent
man the following communication in reply : —

" Dr. Rush requests Mr. Roscoe to accept of
his thanks for his elegant oration delivered be-
fore the proprietors of the Botanic Garden in
Liverpool. It could not have been sent to any
person who more highly appreciates Mr. Roscoe's
character and writings. His history of ' Lorenzo*
has been read with great delight by several
members of Dr. Rush's family, as well as by
himself ; and Mr. Roscoe's charming little poem,
styled * The Nurse,' formed, a few months ago,
a present to one of the Doctor's female patients,
to whom he wished to show a durable mark of
his friendship and respect."

The establishment of the Botanic Garden led
to a correspondence with the celebrated Dr.
J. E. Smith, which afterwards ripened into a
warm and lasting friendship. In the year 1803
Dr. Smith paid a visit to Allerton, and the bo-
tanical pursuits of his friend received an impulse
from his society. The gratification which this
visit afforded Mr. Roscoe is strongly expressed
in the following extract from a letter addressed
to Dr. Smith, immediately after his return to
Norwich ; and it is pleasing to reflect that the

to England,' said the good old man, ' tell Mr. Roscoe that I
love him like a brother, and that a perfect accordance of
sentiment and feeling supplies what our distant situations
are so calculated to destroy.' "

S 3

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

feelings of warm attachment, which breathe
through this letter, remained unimpaired to the
conclusion of his friend's life : —

" Amidst our frequent recollections of you at
Allerton, we had begun to feel some anxiety on
your account, which would by no means have
been diminished, had we known that you and
your companion were careering over the hills
of Derbyshire on the top of a coach. Your
letter has arrived just in time to alleviate our
apprehensions, and to add to the cheerfulness of
our Sunday's dinner, where you have as many
friends as we number individuals. In rejoicing
with you, as I most truly do, on your restoration
to domestic happiness, I feel, however, a selfish
hope that you may be encouraged at no distant
period to pay another visit to Liverpool, and
that you will prevail on Mrs. Smith to accompany
you. I had almost begun to suspect that the
cares of the world or the lapse of years had
blunted in me those feelings, and diminished
that capacity of attachment, which, in youth, are
so ardently experienced ; but the fortunate in-
cident which introduced me to your acquaint-
ance has restored me to a better opinion of
myself, and, however I may regret that we did
not meet sooner, I gratify myself in regarding
you as a friend of my early days, but lately
found, if indeed I can be said lately to have
found one whom I have known so long in his

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 263

writings, and to whom I have been indebted for
much pleasure, and, I hope, some improvement."

The pleasure which Dr. Smith derived from
this visit is expressed in a very lively manner in
the following letter to his friend Mr. Dawson
Turner, dated from Allerton * : —

" At length I sit down to write you a letter —
literally, but not, I fear, metaphorically, with the
pen of a Roscoe — that very pen which has just
been correcting his manuscript * Life of Leo X.'

" I am here at his charming villa, six miles
from Liverpool, looking over Cheshire and the

Mersey to the Welsh hills.

*****

" My lectures are numerously and brilliantly
attended, and seem to stir up a great ardour and
taste for botany. The Botanic Garden promises
well, though in its infancy, except the Stove,
which is well filled and in the first order. The
curator, Mr. Shepherd, is the properest man I
ever saw for the purpose. I hope to procure
him some useful correspondents, one of which
shall be our friend Watts of Ashill.

" You are acquainted with Mr. Roscoe's taste
and genius, — his manners, temper, and cha-
racter are equal to them. I am surprised to find
him so good a practical botanist. His library is
rich in botany, and especially in Italian history

* Life of Sir J. E. Smith, vol. ii. p. 302.
S 4

264 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

and poetry. I fancy myself at Lorenzo's own
villa."

The beautiful work of " Exotic Botany," pub-
lished by Dr. Smith in the year 1804, was in-
scribed to Mr. Roscoe, in the following elegant
and affectionate address ; —

" Dear Sir,

" When, in your delightful retirement at Aller-
ton, I felt transported to the villa of your own
* Lorenzo,' I was agreeably surprised to find
how large a portion of your attention scientific
botany had shared, amid your ardent devotion to
the historic Muse. Let this remind you of that
time, so grateful to my recollection, and which,
if I may judge by subsequent transactions, you
do not wish to forget. Long had I been anxious
to know the historian of the ' Medici ; ' but I now
wish far more to cultivate and preserve the regard
of a Roscoe. Allow me to subscribe myself,

" Dear Sir,
" Your obliged and affectionate friend,

" J. E. SMITH."

The gratifying honour thus conferred upon
him Mr. Roscoe acknowledged in the following
letter : —

" It was not till late last night that I had the
pleasure of receiving, through the hands of my
booksellers, the first number of * Exotic Botany/

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

and of perusing the affectionate, and to me
highly gratifying address which you have done
me the great honour to prefix to it. To such
parts of it as are commendatory, I can only say,
that although it be an arduous task, I will do the
best I can to justify you to the world for the
favourable opinion which you have ventured to
express; and in this respect I feel as if I had
been paid beforehand for a work which I have
to perform : but in your kind and friendly ex-
pressions of attachment and esteem I experience
the most unalloyed and perfect satisfaction, be-
cause I know that affection can only be repaid in
kind, and that I am rich enough to make you a
return. May this public seal of our friendship
not only confirm it whilst we live, but long con-
tinue to unite our names in future times, as
associates in our studies and pursuits, in our
dispositions and our hearts."

During the summer of 1805, Dr. Smith, ac-
companied by Mrs. Smith, again paid a visit to
Allerton, where he remained several weeks, and
confirmed the favourable impressions which his
first acquaintance had created.

In the month of January, 1804, Mr. Roscoe,
probably on the suggestion of his friend Dr. Smith,
became a Fellow of the Linnean Society. Some
years afterwards he contributed a few papers
to its " Transactions," which will be hereafter
noticed.

266 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

The literary labours of Mr. Roscoe at this
time were agreeably diversified by the society of
his friends. During a visit which Fuseli paid to
Liverpool, in the year 1804, he passed much of
his time at Allerton, amusing those around him
by his wit, and informing them by his learning.
His biographer relates, that as Mr. Roscoe was
pointing out to him the improvements which
had taken place in Liverpool, Fuseli observed,
"I do not wonder that you look upon these
with some degree of self-complacency, for they
may be considered as the work of your hands,
and as such I view them with interest ; but
methinks I every where smell the blood of
slaves." * The gratification which Fuseli derived
from this visit is expressed by him, in his usual
strong language, in the following letter : —

" Ecco mi giunto al strepitoso nido ! It is
only since yesterday that I can consider myself
as settled here, having been a visiter, ever since
my arrival, at Johnson's suburbano, which is
neither Allerton, nor Shepherd's botanic para-
dise, but a sweet and peaceful little neat hut
embosomed in a wilderness of shrubs ; and, what
I like better, entomologic weeds ; a close and
humble neighbour to the magnificent domain of
some nauwab, but undisturbed by his four de-
mons, ycleped gardeners.

" Where shall I begin, where end my thanks

* Life of Fuseli, p. 376.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 267

for what I enjoyed, my regrets for what I left,
when I parted from you, your wife, your sons,
and daughters ? My heart tells me it is non-
sense to attempt, and so I drop it. A few such
weeks as I have passed amongst you atone for
months of care and misery, and add to the real
sum of life.

" In this humour you would not expect that,
if I had business to impart, I should now speak
of it ; we always wake, and too soon, alas ! from
a delicious dream. Expect soon more."

Amongst the many distinguished scholars and
men of taste with whom the literary reputation
of Mr. Roscoe led to an acquaintance was Mr.
Mathias, whose intimate and critical knowledge
of the language and literature of Italy has, per-
haps, never been equalled by a native of this
country. Mr. Roscoe was naturally desirous of
acquiring the favourable opinion and the per-
sonal acquaintance of so eminent a scholar ; but
it was not until some years after the publication
of his first historical work that an opportunity
of becoming known to him was afforded. In
the year 1801 Mr. Mathias transmitted to Mr.
Roscoe, through the hands of their mutual friend
Mrs. Riddel, a copy of a selection which he had
lately made from the poems of Petrarch ; and
from this period they continued to correspond
occasionally upon subjects of literary interest, and
to make a mutual interchange of their writings.

268 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

The admiration which Mr. Mathias felt for the
high literary character of his correspondent he
manifested in a beautiful Italian canzone ad-
dressed to him, and prefixed to his edition of
" Selections from Tiraboschi," a distinguished
honour, of which Mr. Roscoe was justly proud.
The reputation of Mr. Mathias as an Italian
scholar must always render his judgment upon
subjects connected with the literature of that
country of the highest value ; and it cannot,
therefore, be improper, to present, in this place,
a portion of the correspondence between him
and Mr. Roscoe.

In the year 1803, Mr. Mathias transmitted to
Mr. Roscoe the beautiful volumes which he had
just published, of " Selections from the Com-
mentaries of Crescimbeni," which were accom-
panied by the following letter : —

" It gives me pleasure to offer you a copy of
the * Commentaries on the Poetry of Italy by
Crescimbeni,* which I have republished, de-
tached from the historical part of the work, as
I think it is a treatise of singular merit, and
perfect in its kind. I conceive it may tend in
an eminent degree to diffuse the knowledge, and
promote the cultivation, of Italian literature in
this country, in which I am sure you will feel
yourself naturally interested ; for, in whatever
part of the civilised world that subject is brought
forwards, the name of Roscoe cannot be far off.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 269

"It is also my intention shortly to present
the public with * La Storia della poesia Italiana,"
as written by Tiraboschi, taken from his most
valuable and voluminous history of Italian liter-
ature in general. It will accompany Crescim-
beni with great effect, in my opinion ; and will
complete this part of the plan which I have
formed, in the hope of giving honour and per-
manency, amongst my countrymen, to the greatest
language of modern Europe. I wish they may
have the sense and spirit to second the attempt.
I propose to address this personally to you, as
Italy acknowledges in you the patron and pro-
tector of her learned offspring ; and will for ever
confess, that you have given the most illustrious
example to all those who, though with unequal
powers, may hereafter be desirous of advancing
the glory of that parent of arts and learning.
* Propter amorem' is at once my excuse and
my satisfaction on this occasion.

" I shall be happy to hear that you, and all
your family, have enjoyed your health since I
had the pleasure of seeing you (for too short a
time) in London last year."

" It gives me great pleasure to observe," says
Mr. Roscoe, in answer to the foregoing letter,
" that the literature of Italy has begun to attract
the more particular notice of our countrymen ;
and I am highly gratified to find that its cause
has fallen into such able hands as yours, who are

270 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

in every respect qualified to set it off to advan-
tage. One would have thought that the ex-
ample of our great poets, and particularly of
Spenser and Milton, would have recommended
the Italians to the study of all those who are
emulous of their honours ; yet certain it is, that
they have hitherto been unaccountably neglected
in this country, and, excepting a very few emi-
nent authors, may be said to be wholly strangers
amongst us. Nor is it from the poets alone we
should derive improvement. The literary his-
tory of Italy would open an immense fund of
information far beyond what that of any other
country (I do not except even our own) could
afford. I am therefore glad to find that you
have followed up your * Componimenti Lirici*
with the ' Commentary of Crescimbeni ; ' and
that to these you still design to add the excel-
lent work of Tiraboschi, as far as it relates to
the history of poetry. Works selected with so
much judgment, and published in so elegant
and convenient a form, seem to me eminently
calculated to diffuse a more general relish for
these studies, particularly at this time, when, as
far as I can judge from my distant situation, the
Italian language seems to be more attended to
than it has ever before been within my memory.
For your highly esteemed present of the volumes
of Crescimbeni, and for your kind intentions
towards me, I beg you to accept my best ac-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 271

knowledgments. To be associated in any manner
in the attempt which you are so laudably making
to recall the public taste to standards of real ex-
cellence will always be considered by me as a
great honour. I should be glad to think that
I have in any degree contributed to the success
of this cause ; but, at all events, I can never
regret those efforts which have obtained for
me the obliging assurances of your esteem and
friendship, — assurances in which I confide with
pleasure, and which I repeat with sincerity, in
the hope that I may ere long find an opportunity
of confirming them in person."

The edition of the " Selections from Tira-
boschi" was forwarded to Mr. Roscoe a few
months afterwards, with the following flattering
letter : —

" I have a particular satisfaction in offering to
you the * History of Italian Poetry,' as written
by the great historian of the general literature
of Italy, Tiraboschi, which will be published in
a few days. I am sure every scholar in this
country will agree in the propriety of addressing
this work personally to you, as you have every
claim arising from its peculiar subject, which
you have illustrated in one of the principal
periods, by your talents and your erudition, and
which is known and admired in every part of
the civilised world.

" If the canzone, which is honoured by the

272 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

prefixing of your name to it, should be considered
by you as answerable to the dignity of its theme,
in any manner, I can assure you I have en-
deavoured by much thought, time, and atten-
tion, to render it not wholly unworthy of your
perusal —

* Non ita certandi cupidus, quarrt propter amor em.'

'* I am inclined to hope that the language
and literature of Italy may finally, under your
auspices, be honoured, cultivated, and promoted
in Great Britain ; and I trust that these dis-
interested contributions to revive them may be
favourably regarded. In the different addresses
to our countrymen in the various Italian works
I have presented to their notice, in the originals,
I have fully explained my sentiments."

" I have just had the pleasure," says Mr.
Roscoe, in reply, " of receiving the four volumes
of the * History of Italian Poetry,' extracted from
the great work of the learned Tiraboschi ; a
publication which, like the others with which
you have lately favoured us, will, I doubt not,
contribute to diffuse a more general knowledge
of the poetry and literature of Italy, which will
be found the surest preservative against that
degradation with which this country is threat-
ened. It is not, however, as the republisher of
these valuable works alone that your country-
men are indebted to you. The example which

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 273

you have set before them of the proficiency
which a native of England may acquire in the
beautiful and expressive language of Italy, and
of the success with which it may be adapted to
every style of composition, from the most elegant
and simple prose to the most elevated poetry,
must operate as a still more powerful recom-
mendation of the study of the Italian language.
It must not, however, be supposed that the
most thorough acquaintance with the language
will communicate that poetic fervour and viva-
city so conspicuous in the Canzone which you
have done me the honour to address to me,
.and in the perusal of which I know not whether
I am more surprised at the powerful and wehV
supported strain of lyric poetry which it dis-
plays, or on finding some part of it lavished on
such a subject as myself. In fact, my dear
Sir, although I certainly am not insensible to
the glow of honourable praise; and although
the elevated and manly style in which it has
been conferred, is still more gratifying to me;
yet the satisfaction which I feel is not unaccom-
panied by sensations of a more painful nature j
and I am too well acquainted with the insuffi-
ciency of my own pretensions, to consider this
production in any other light than as a com-
position which I admire, and a mark of friend-
ship of which I am proud. The public will not,
however, I fear, allow me to appeal from so
VOL. i. T

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

decisive an authority j and I experience the feel-
ings of one who stands approved for merits of
which he is not conscious, and pledged to the
performance of labours far beyond his powers.
But however low I may stand in my own esti-
mation, I must not now allow myself to shrink
from the more elevated prospect which you have
pointed out to me ; and it will, at least, be my
endeavour to justify, by my future efforts, that
favourable opinion which has been so partially
expressed."

Having reprinted his Canzoni Toscane in the
year 1806, Mr. Mathias addressed to Mr. Roscoe
the following letter, accompanying several copies
of the poem inscribed to him : —

" It gives me particular pleasure, whenever I
have an opportunity of addressing you, or en-
quiring after you, and your important as well as
truly classical employments, for which the world
of letters is so much indebted to you.

" Though you are in possession of all the
Italian works which I have offered to the public,
yet, as I have just been induced to reprint the
two * Canzoni Toscane,' which I took the liberty
of inscribing to you and Dr. Marcet, separately
from the volumes to which I originally prefixed
them, I indulge a hope that you will receive
them in their new shape. I must also confess
that one very principal motive for my reprinting
them was this ; — that if any person should be

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

inclined to honour my Canzone so highly as to
bind it up with either of your most valuable
histories, he may now be enabled to do so ; as
I have printed it on exactly the same sized
paper. I have also had a few copies taken off
on a large paper, the same as that on which
your magnificent edition of Leo X. is printed.
The constant indulgence with which you have
favoured my attempt to express the very high
sense which I entertain of your meritorious and
eminent services to the literary part of England
and of Italy, leads me to hope that this feeble
but sincere desire of paying still further respect
to you will also be excused or approved.

* All' opre vostre e pellegrine e nove
Tue sacrerei la mia straniera lira,
Straniera si, ma ficla.'

" I hope that you will excuse my having put
up a few copies of the Canzone for such of your
friends as you think might wish it should ac-
company either of your works. It seems as if
Italy must at last retire into Great Britain from
the insults and injuries of the Corsican tyrant,
and she will repose with gratitude at your feet.
I should be happy to hear that all your family are
well, and that you have enjoyed health and lei-
sure for the most pleasing of all your labours, —
those which you devote to literature."

To this letter the following answer was re-
turned by Mr. Roscoe : —

276 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

" I have had the pleasure of receiving your
obliging letter, accompanying the copies of your
two beautiful * Canzoni Toscane,' and cannot
sufficiently express how greatly I feel myself in-
debted to you for this additional instance of your
kind partiality. The Canzone which you have
been so good as to address to me, I shall be proud
to prefix to my ' Life of Leo,' and to enable a
few of my friends, devoted to Italian literature, to
do the same. I shall thus, in some degree, gratify
a desire which I always had, to see this elegant
production precede my work ; and which, indeed,
nothing could have prevented (had you con-
sented to it), but an apprehension that I might
be considered as publishing my own praise, in
having my name thus permanently united with
yours in this favourite object of our common
pursuit.

* Che andrian le Muse lagrimose e sole
Senza onor di ghirlande e d'auree cetre,
E muti si starian gli inni canori
Senza Te che Parnaso ami ed onori.'

" I continue to flatter myself, that at some pe-
riod not far distant, I may have an opportunity of
renewing our very interesting conversations on
the literature and writers of Italy. If this should
happen under my own roof, it would be doubly
pleasant to me ; and as it is probable that you
may make an excursion during the summer,
allow me to prevail upon you to direct your

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 277

course to the north, and to pass a few days with
me in my quiet retirement at Allerton."

Amongst the most intimate friends of Mr.
Roscoe, there was no one who had won more of
his affection, or commanded more of his respect,
than Dr. Currie. Their acquaintance had com-
menced soon after the arrival of the latter in
Liverpool : and to the period of his death, which
occurred in the autumn of the present year
(1805), their friendship had continued without
interruption. The literary tastes and critical
powers of Dr. Currie were highly valued by Mr.
Roscoe, who submitted to his judgment the ma-
nuscript of a great part of his historical works, his
translation of " The Nurse," and his occasional
fugitive pieces. In a note enclosing one of the
latter, he appropriately addresses him as " Sin-
cerest critic of my prose or rhyme." His Muse,
also, was not idle in the service of his friend ;
and some lines on the death of his children, and
a sonnet, which have been lately published*,
attest the warmth of his feelings. How secure
the basis was upon which their friendship rested,
— a companionship in virtuous exertions, — is
seen in the concluding lines of the poem : —

" — Nor o'er our heads may many suns return,
When we, my friend, may share the lot we mourn —
Still in the dust this busy hand shall lie,
Dim in its socket rest thy tracing eye :

* Life of Dr. Currie, vol. i. p. 147.
T 3

#78 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

Meantime, whate'er of life its AUTHOR spares,
Give we to generous aims and social cares ;
That when we rest in chill oblivion cold,
And o'er our ashes numerous years have roll'd,
Some happier effort may survive the tomb,
Pregnant with bliss to beings yet to come."

In conjunction with Dr. Currie, Mr. Roscoe
commenced, in the year 1790, a series of Essays,
under the title of " The Recluse," which were
published in the " Liverpool Herald," and of
which the greater part were from his own pen.
But it was not by a participation in these light
and elegant pursuits alone that the friendship of
Dr. Currie and Mr. Roscoe was cemented. It was
strengthened by their joint endeavours to pro-
mote liberal principles, and to further benevolent
objects, by their mutual anxiety to assist one
another in designs of public utility, and by the
promptitude with which they jointly came for-
wards at the public call. It is not surprising
that the dissolution of a friendship like this should
have been felt most deeply by Mr. Roscoe, whose
sympathy for the fate of his friend was heightened
by the singular instance of his attachment, re-
corded in the following letter, written imme-
diately after Dr. Currie's death, to Mr. Macneil,
the poet : —

" Be assured, my dear Sir, that in our common
attachment to our late much loved and lamented
friend, I feel an additional bond of union between

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 279

us. His influence yet survives, and forms fresh
motives of confidence and friendship. * * *
You will already, perhaps, have heard that the
sufferings of our late excellent friend, towards
the close of his life, were uncommonly severe ;
but it may be some satisfaction to you to know,
that the firmness of his mind was equal to the
trial, and that, amidst the most painful conflicts
of his disorder, he was employed in an abstract
attention to the nature of his symptoms, as if he
had been making observations on the case of
another person. Such a decided superiority of
mind to body has seldom been exhibited, and
reminds me of a most striking passage in a letter
of Dr. Reid, given in Mr. Stewart's Life of that
eminent man. * To think that the soul perishes
in that fatal moment, when it is purified by this
fiery trial, and fitted for the noblest exertions in
another state, is an opinion which I cannot help
looking down upon with contempt and disdain.'
On this subject, I cannot refrain from communi-
cating to you some other circumstances attend-
ing his last moments, which afford an additional
proof of the warmth of his affections, and the
unbroken vigour of his mind. Whilst confined
to his bed, he was accustomed to dictate to his
son Wallace, who constantly attended on him,
such sentiments as occurred to him respecting
those matters in which he was most deeply in-
terested— his family, his friends, his writings,

T 4-

280 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

and his opinions. This practice was continued
to the very extreme of his rational powers, and
was even renewed in the intervals of delirium
immediately preceding his death. Some of these
written memorials have since been communicated
to me ; and you will readily conceive what my
feelings must have been, on finding one of them
addressed to myself, tremulously signed with his
own hand, intended to convey to me and mine
his last blessing^ and to give me some account of
the state of his feelings on the most important
of all topics, so far as he had then proceeded in
what he himself denominates * the valley of the
shadow of death.* Such a pledge of affection
more nearly resembles a communication from
the world of spirits, than a message from a fellow
mortal ; and I shall, accordingly, preserve it as
an inestimable memorial of the friendship of a
man of high intellectual endowments, inflexible
energy, and unbounded goodness of heart."

In one of his latest papers, Dr. Currie had ex-
pressed a wish, that, on any thing that respected
his memoirs, his " loved and excellent friend
Mr. Roscoe" might be consulted ; and for many
years it was the earnest desire of the latter to
present to the public the biography of his friend.
The weight of business, however, and various
engagements in which he became necessarily in-
volved, prevented him from carrying this project
into effect, — a circumstance which he never ceased

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 281

to lament, till he enjoyed the gratification of
reading the admirable Memoir which the son of
Dr. Currie has lately given to the world.

The death of Dr. Currie was followed by that of
Mr. William Clarke, the early literary associate
of Mr. Roscoe. In mentioning this double loss,
in a letter to a friend, he says, — " It is true, the
recollection of the sufferings which they had to
sustain, and which they bore with uncommon
fortitude, served in some degree to blunt the first
emotions of sorrow, and to reconcile the mind
to the loss of those, whose longer continuance
in life would only have been a prolongation of
anguish. But if the weapon was blunted, it has
still inflicted an incurable wound; and to the
last moment of my life I must regret the loss of
these my long-loved friends, who, however they
might differ in disposition, manners, talents, and
character, united in regarding me with partial
and unalterable affection."

There was probably no one, among the many
persons attached to Mr. Roscoe, in whose society
he found greater delight than in that of Mr.
Clarke. The liveliness, the simplicity, and the
facetiousness of his manner, coupled with the
great intelligence of his mind, and his love of
literary pursuits, rendered him a peculiarly agree-
able companion. Even during a long and afflict-
ing state of ill health, spirits which never failed,
and a good-nature not to be overcome, made his

282 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

society delightful. So early as the year 1783,
he was compelled, for the sake of the climate, to
take up his residence abroad, where he remained
for about seven years, during the whole of which
time he corresponded regularly with his friend.
These letters, written sometimes in Italian,
sometimes in French, and occasionally in Latin,
contain lively pictures of the countries which
he visited, valuable intelligence with regard
to literary curiosities, and ever recurring allu-
sions to the happy days which he had passed in
the society of his correspondent. A taste for
tranquillity and literary leisure was strongly felt
by Mr. Clarke ; and he frequently refers to the
expected time, when, in company with his friend,
he may hope to follow the bent of his inclin-
ations.

" So, you are immersed in public business !

* The world, the world will have its slaves.'

A little mortification will make retreat more
enviable, more full of relish. Let us make all
the haste we can, however, to get along a river
side to peace and tranquillity. There Dante
shall attend, to conduct us to Hell, but not to
leave us there ; for we will not rest, till through
the medium of Purgatory, we join Beatrice in
the supernal regions."

" I congratulate you," he says, in a letter
dated in 1783, " on the increase of your family;

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 283

though I somewhat repine (while I applaud your
resolution) at the imposition it lays upon you to
join in the general contention for wealth. I
expect to find you, on my return, as intently
occupied in the pursuit as any of your neigh-
bours. 'Tis in vain to resist the torrent ; but
your natural inclination will, I think, lead you
to secure your retreat as early as prudence will
allow ; and I trust that period will not be a
distant one, provided the moderation of your
wishes continues. It is a true maxim, * To tem-
perate bounds,' &c. On this plan I hold myself
ready to join you in any scheme of life you
approve. I shall presently be qualified for the
veriest hermit; — ease, quiet, temperance, reflec-
tion,— to these are my vows directed; not but
that I sometimes shall leave my retreat, to feel a
greater relish for it at my return."

During Mr. Clarke's visit to Lisbon, the fol-
lowing verses were addressed to him by Mr.
Roscoe : —

" Ye hills with towering forests crown'd,
Ye plains by sultry suns embrown'd,
Ye vales along whose vine-crown'd sides
The Douro rolls his rapid tides ;

" Ye rocks grotesque, whose rugged brow
Glooms o'er the beating surge below,
Whence Lusitania's Genius eyes
The ocean mingling with the skies ;

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

" From northern climes and colder shores,
My Clarke your mild retreats explores,
Hopeful to find their shades supply
That health his native fields deny.

" Oh ! guide his steps, ye guardian powers,
Oh ! lead him to your greenest bowers ;
And whilst he treads the flowing vale,
Let health breathe strong in every gale.

" Nor be your gifts to health confined ;
But soothe to peace his gentle mind,
Infuse contentment's healing balm,
And bid each anxious thought be calm.

" Released from Winter's icy arms,

When Spring unfolds her op'ning charms,
Then rich in vigorous health restore
The wanderer to his native shore ;

" With learning that disdains pretence,
With native wit, and manly sense,
Again to smooth my brow of care,
Again my social hour to share ;

" To soothe by reason's kind control
Each wilder tumult of my soul;
Within due bounds my hopes confine,
And make his temperate spirit mine.

" So may nor whirlwind, blight, nor storm,
Your verdant orange-groves deform ;
So may your vines in cluster'd pride
Pour in full streams their purple tide ;

" Nor e'er within your favour'd bound
The earthquake walk his wasteful round ;
Which on Calabria's alter'd shores
The trembling native now deplores."

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 285

In the autumn of the year 1790, Mr. Clarke
returned from the Continent ; and the pleasure
with which he anticipated his re-union with one
for whom he felt so entire a friendship, is beauti-
fully expressed in a letter written immediately
upon his arrival at Brighton. — " A little while
more will bring us, I hope, together. In your
society, my friend, I look for the principal plea-
sure of my life. The commerce of the world
gives me no real satisfaction, and I am not fit for
it ; but as often as the calls of business will allow,
your dwelling, whether in town or park, shall be
my principal haunt. I know no enjoyments like
those of friendship and retirement. My system
(as far as is compatible with duty) being to stand
aloof from the cares of the world, which are the
source of much disquietude. The tranquil phi-
losophy of our old friend Horace is much to
my taste. His favourite maxim, of moderating
our desires, is of all others the most important ;
but, I know not how, we seem often to be carried
along by a blind impulse, as if a fatality presided
over our actions."

In the summer of 1805, Mr. Clarke visited
London for medical advice. His sufferings now
almost overcame the delightful spirits with which
nature had gifted him, and his letters to his early
friend are full of the most affecting passages : —
" I must grasp the pen," he says, in a letter
dated the 15th of August, 1805, " to say that I

286 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

was sorry to hear you have been poorly. Mais
j'espere que cela est passe. Here I linger on,
in a most, lamentable state, with little prospect
of amendment. My spirits seem likely soon to
be completely worn out. I must console myself
with the hope that, after so long an illness, I
may expect an alleviation of the sufferings of
my final exit. Believe me, usque ad umbras
silentes, ubi vagatur umbra Ricardi nostri *,
vester additissimus LE CLERC."

His sensibility to the sympathy of his friend
he expresses in the following letter, written
shortly before his death : —

" This post brought me your kind and affec-
tionate letter, which has nearly overwhelmed
me. I may literally say, I have bathed my
couch with my tears. I prize, as I ought, your
kind philosophical consolations ; and they will,
I trust, assist me in bearing patiently the ills
incident to our nature. I would write more,
but I am exhausted. Be persuaded that the
impression of your kindness, and that of my
other friends, is never to be effaced from my
heart"

The loss of these long-tried and excellent
friends made a deep impression on the feelings
of Mr. Roscoe, and his more confidential letters

* Mr. Richard Lowndes, the early friend of Mr. Clarke
and Mr. Roscoe.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 287

contain many reflections produced by these af-
fecting events.

" Surely, the misery that usually attends the
close of life affords one of the strongest proofs
of a future state of existence. For how is it
possible to suppose that the same Supreme
Being, who has distributed such various and
extensive happiness to his creatures, would
finally conclude the whole with pain and dis-
tress ? This view of the subject is the only one
that can afford us any real consolation, either
for the sufferings of our friends, or for those
which we must experience ourselves. After a
life evidently intended to exercise our virtues,
and improve our moral powers, death may be
considered as the last great trial of our fortitude ;
the display of which, as it exhibits a complete
triumph over the weakness of human nature,
seems the best calculated to terminate our la-
bours in this world, and accompany us on our
entrance into the next. In the mean time, we
who survive are like soldiers in an army, who,
as their ranks are thinned by the enemy, draw
nearer to each other."

Not long after these events, Mr. Roscoe had
to regret, upon different grounds, the loss of a
man for whom he had ever entertained the
warmest admiration and respect. In the mag-
nanimous nature, the philanthropic heart, and
the expanded political views of Mr. Fox, he

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

recognised the qualities which compose the cha-
racter of a genuine statesman, and for a long
course of years he had been accustomed to
regard him as the great hope of the nation.
How sincerely and how deeply he lamented his
loss may be learned from the following letter to
Lord Holland : —

" I well know the poignancy of domestic grief
is, on this occasion, enhanced by the consider-
ation of the public loss of such a man, at such a
juncture of time — a man in whom the nation
seemed at length to have reposed its hopes and
its confidence, and who was pre-eminently qua-
lified, both by his talents and his disposition, to
relieve her from the complicated evils in which
she has, by a long course of misconduct, been
involved. In this point of view, there have been
few, if any, instances, where the sudden loss of
great talents may be considered as so strikingly
untimely and unfortunate. But although this
must be the first and natural impression on such
an event, yet a due reflection will induce us to
moderate ouY -anxiety, and convince us that the
expressions, * untimely and unfortunate, ' apply
only to our own narrow conceptions and bounded
views, and that, under the direction of Pro-
vidence, the most alarming evils may not only be
averted, but may become the instruments of
good. Without this consoling hope, our present
prospects would be dark indeed.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 289

" Among the many great and striking endow-
ments of Mr. Fox, there is one in particular
to which I cannot help adverting, and whicli I
trust will still continue to animate all those who
have admired him in public, or loved him in
private life. I mean that deep and intimate
feeling for human nature, which has generally
been estranged from the bosom of statesmen, but
which was with him a part of his existence, ever
actuating him to alleviate the evils, to vindicate
the rights, to soften the calamities, and to in-
crease, by every means in his power, the happi-
ness of mankind. In this respect he is not lost
to us. As long as our language remains, the
powerful effusions of his mind will continue to
improve and enlighten his countrymen, and to
diffuse a milder and more benevolent spirit, not
only in the recesses of private life, but in the di-
rection of nations and the intercourse of states.

" This, my dear Lord, is his great and lasting
praise ; and if we are not wanting to ourselves in
pursuing the track which his genius and his
virtues have pointed out to us, we may yet, in
some degree, recompense ourselves for the great
but inevitable loss which, in the common course
of nature, we must, at one time or other, have
had to sustain.

" The preservation of his speeches, in their best
and most authentic form, is a sacred duty, which,
I doubt not, will be most religiously observed.

VOL. i. u

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

It is here that he still lives and breathes ; nor is
there a single question essential to the great
interests of mankind, but we can still resort to
these invaluable records, as to his living self, for
those liberal ideas, those extensive views, those
impartial estimates of public conduct, those bold
vindications of natural and political rights, those
humane suggestions on behalf of all who suffer
from injustice or oppression, which seem to
have been the spontaneous result of his gene-
rous spirit and exalted mind, and which will
secure to him the love and admiration of all
future times."

In the course of the year 1804, the interests of
a young family who had been intrusted to his
guardianship made it necessary for Mr. Roscoe
to pass a few days in London. This visit gave
him an opportunity of once more seeing the
Marquis of Lansdowne, who was now rapidly
approaching the close of his long and distin-
guished career. In a letter to Mrs. Roscoe, he
says, " I am just returned from the Marquis. I
have been deeply affected. He is very ill, but
saw me ; and though he speaks with hesitation,
his kindness both to me and W. is expressed in
the most affectionate terms. More when I re-
turn." In a letter to Lord Holland, written after
the Marquis's death, he says, " I am sorry to
have occasion, so near the close of my letter, to
recall a subject of such infinite regret as the death

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 291

of the Marquis of Lansdowne. I saw him about
twelve months since, and was apprehensive that
his life could not be greatly prolonged. He spoke
to me in the most affectionate terms, particularly
requesting that I would continue the attachment
I had always shown him, to his son Lord Henry,
— a recommendation which certainly did me
great honour, but which was not necessary to
induce me to comply with his wishes." The
correspondence between the Marquis of Lans-
downe and Mr. Roscoe extends from the year
1790, down to the period of his Lordship's last
illness. Confidence, attachment, and respect for
the opinions of each other, are freely manifested
throughout the whole course of it. There were
few subjects of political interest upon which the
Marquis did not address his correspondent ; and
in his open expression of sentiment, his capacious
and liberal views, his attachment to freedom, and
the accurate foresight of his judgment, reflect
the highest honour on his statesman-like cha-
racter. On the part of Mr. Roscoe, the cor-
respondence is conducted writh freedom, with
sincerity, and with the respect due to the station
and talents of his correspondent, and to the con-
spicuous part he had long acted in public affairs.
During this excursion Mr. Roscoe had the
pleasure of occasionally enjoying the society of
Dr. J. E. Smith, who happened at that time to
be in town. In the following letter to Mrs.

u 2

292 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

Roscoe he has given a slight sketch of his en-
gagements during this visit: — "I wrote you a
few lines on my arrival on Saturday. I had
scarcely finished, when Dr. Smith and Drake
called on me, and I accompanied them to the
Doctor's lodgings, and was introduced to Mrs. S.
and Miss F. S. I shall not attempt to describe
them to you, lest you should think you have
totally lost your wandering swain. I shall only
say, that he who could see and hear Mrs. S.
without being enchanted, has a heart not worth
a farthing. Mr. Martin also called on me at the
Temple Coffee-house. He was going on Sunday
to dine with Dr. Aikin ; and Dr. Smith pro-
mised to be of the party. I found a note
from Mr. E., inviting me to dinner and bed, but
I excused myself; and Dr. Smith, Drake, the two
ladies, and myself, intruded ourselves unexpect-
edly at Dr. Aikin's table, and passed one of the
brightest days in the summer of human life.
Dr. A. was in high spirits, and seemed truly to
enjoy our visit. His situation is perfectly suited
to his wishes ; and he declared that the present
is the happiest period of his life. Miss A. is
improved in her health, and preserves all her
vivacity. After dinner Mr. Barbauld called, and
conducted us to his incomparable wife. With
her we found Mrs. John Taylor, and a long et
ccetera of the families which I cannot enumerate ;
and after half an hour's conversation, we returned

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 293

to Dr. Aikin's to tea. On our return we sent
Drake home in the coach with the ladies, and
Dr. Saii'th, Mr. Martin, and myself, went to Sir
Joseph Bankes's. I was introduced to him, and
received very kindly : invited to dine with the
Royal Society on Thursday, and attend the meet-
ing of that and the Antiquarian, which I intend
to do. To-day I have devoted to business, ex-
amined all the poor old gentleman's papers and
effects, in company with Mr. E., one of the finest
old gentlemen of seventy-five that I ever met
with. I had called on him at Clapton on Sunday,
and apologised for my apparent incivility, but
promised to dine with him to-day. After four
hours' hard work in Mr. Dawson's lodgings, I
accompanied him to Clapton Terrace, six or eight
miles from town, and am just returned between
nine and ten o'clock, with sundry valuables, safe
from highway depredators. To-morrow I am
engaged to dine at Mr. Barbauld's : Mr. Martin
and Miss S. are to be there. In the evening I
propose to go to the Linnean Society. Wednes-
day, a great part, with Dr. S. to Kew. Sunday
at Mr. Creevey*s, to meet Mr. Fox.

" I have paid several other visits, but have not
yet been able to see the Marquis. Engagements
crowrd in, but I hope to arrange them so as to be
free at the end of next week. On Sunday we
called at Mr. Belsham's, and saw our young
friends, who are in perfect health : I shall call

u 3

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

on them again before I leave town. I hope to
see Mrs. Wakefield to-morrow. I write this with
Harry Browne lecturing on beef d-la-mode in
the next room, from which I hear every word as
plain as if he sat beside me. I have now tired
myself and you, but you will see that I lose no
time ; for which my constant stimulating prin-
ciple is, that I may be once more at Allerton."

The sentiments of Mr. Roscoe at this time,
on the course of political events, may be gathered
from his letters. In the following, addressed to
Lord Holland, he has stated his views with re-
gard to the condition of the Roman Catholics,
and notices one of the great causes which was
silently leading to their emancipation : —

" March, 1805.

" I have somewhere, in that work*, alluded to
the necessity there is, that statesmen and rulers
should be aware of the changes in public opinion,
and should accommodate their conduct accord-
ingly ; and I might have added, that enlightened
rulers will foresee and anticipate such changes,
and turn those circumstances, which would other-
wise be ruinous, to their own or the public ad-
vantage. This, however, has not been the case of
late with the administration of this country, who
have given another striking proof of that want
of knowledge of human nature which has always
characterised them, in their present conduct to-

* The "Life of Leo X."

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 295

wards the Catholics of Ireland. Can any thing
be more apparent, than that the late commotions
on the Continent have broken down all the old
distinctions between Catholics and Protestants,
and given rise to a new order of things, in which
theological distinctions are absolutely lost and
extinguished ? Have we not been defending the
Pope in his own capital ? And is not the present
existence of the Roman See owing to the inter-
ference of this country ? Has not our great
enemy united against us, not only his own motley
empire, but the superstitious and Catholic go-
vernment of Spain, and the Protestant and en-
lightened state of Holland ? And shall we be the
last people on earth to perceive these important
alterations, and, through motives which have no
longer any real foundation, place an insuperable
bar between classes of people forming one nation,
and that too at a time when the exertions of the
whole country are required to preserve its very
existence ? The agitation of this question will,
however, have done great good ; not only from
the knowledge, liberality, and temperate firmness
displayed by the friends of toleration, but by the
disgraceful ignorance and stupid superstition of
its adversaries. The difference is such as cannot
fail to be felt in every part of the country, and
will have a tendency, more than any event that
has yet occurred, to promote sentiments of mo-
deration and good- will among people of different

u 4

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

religious persuasions, and particularly towards
the Roman Catholics, and thus hasten the way
to that general toleration of speculative opinions,
which it is yet to be hoped will finally take
place."

In another letter, to the same nobleman, written
at the close of the year 1805, he thus expresses
himself on the subject of the war: — " The in-
telligence from the Continent seems to become
every day more important, and the war acquires
a character of treachery, cruelty, and ferocity,
which would disgrace an age of barbarians. I
feel all this the more sensibly, from an appre-
hension that this country has been the cause of
these calamities. I look back to the origin of
the present contest, when peace and war hung
equal in the balance, and the slightest portion of
moderation and true good- will to mankind would
have turned the scale on the favourable side.
But Mr. Addington was suspected of being too
tame a minister, and thought himself called upon
to give a proof of his decision and firmness : —
fatal and inconsiderate step ! in which he aban-
doned his natural character, lost himself in the
opinion of the true friends of their country,
threw the reins of government into the same
bloody hands that had so long and so disgrace-
fully held them, and led the way to commotions,
of which no human prudence can possibly fore-
see the event."

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 297

A public fast having been directed to be ob-
served in the year 1803, Dr. Parr took this oc-
casion of expressing his sentiments upon political
affairs, in a sermon which he preached in the
parish church of Hatton. In this discourse, a
copy of which he presented to Mr. Roscoe, he
sketches, with his usual power, the character of a
patriot ; and denounces those who profane that
hallowed name to the purposes of ambition,
avarice, and national or individual pride. This
publication drew from Mr. Roscoe a long and
interesting critique, in the form of a letter,
addressed to Dr. Parr ; to whom, however, as
appears from a memorandum made upon it, it
was never sent. The following extract from this
letter might almost be supposed to have been
addressed, not by the politician to the divine,
but by the divine to the politician : —

" From these sentiments you will perceive,
that although I agree with you in your defini-
tion of patriotism, and in the inferences you
draw from it, as to the indispensable duty and
necessity of a vigorous and national defence,
yet I conceive this is not the only form in which
the efforts of a true patriot may at present be
displayed. You have well observed, that our
patriotism must not be confined to the endurance
of pain, or the surrender of life itself; and if
ever there was an occasion on which efforts of
an extraordinary nature were called for, it is at

298 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

the moment when two nations are whetting the
sword against each other, and commencing a
career of horror and of bloodshed, of which no
human power can foresee the consequences.
Every pretended patriot, every proud and igno-
rant individual, can cry out for war, and urge on
his neighbour to the work of destruction ; but
where is the man who will oppose himself to the
national madness ? Who will point out to botli
countries the absurdity of a contest, which has
no adequate or even rational object in view?
Who will propose, in the very moment of exas-
peration, measures of conciliation and of peace ;
and sacrifice himself in the public opinion, in
the hope, however remote, of rendering to his
country, and to almost all mankind, a real and
effectual service ? He who would dare to attempt
this is indeed a patriot. He who should suc-
ceed in it would entitle himself to the gratitude
and applause of all future times.

" You will not, I am sure, conceive, that in
stating these sentiments I consider myself as
advancing any thing in which I believe you
would not readily concur. They are, I flatter
myself, too much in the spirit of the excellent
discourse, which has given rise to them, to meet
with any great opposition from you. But I
should have been truly happy to have seen them
more fully recommended and enforced in the
same energetic language, and with the same

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 299

convincing arguments, that distinguish the whole
of your sermon.

" Surely, whilst we are vigilant in our defence,
we may keep our hearts free from that rancour
and malevolence which shut out all prospect
and all hope of reconciliation ; and if we cannot
attain to the Christian virtue of loving our
enemies y we may at least guard against that
diabolical spirit of animosity, which renders man-
kind more ferocious than wild beasts. Notwith-
standing the present exasperation, which has been
so artfully and wickedly excited between the
two countries, opportunities will occur when
the breathings of a more temperate spirit will
prevail ; and to prepare the way for it is certainly
the duty of every true friend to his country.
After all the outcry that our liberties are in
danger, from the measures adopted by the French
tyrant on the Continent, I fear we are in more
danger from ourselves, than from all other nations
upon earth."

It was not until the spring of 1806 that
Mr. Roscoe had the satisfaction of becoming
personally acquainted with Dr. Parr, and of en-
joying his society for some days at Allerton.
This visit, which confirmed the friendship cre-
ated by their literary intercourse, is mentioned
by Dr. Parr in the following short letter, with
his usual strong expression of feeling : —

300 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

" Dear Mr. Roscoe,

" I am now in my sixtieth year. I have con-
versed with the wisest and most learned of my
contemporaries, and I say to you with great sin-
cerity, that the days I spent with you, and your
family, were amongst the happiest days of my
life. I shall remember you ; I shall esteem you ;
I shall praise you ; I shall bless you, one and
all, again and again. Yes, dear Sir, I am thank-
ful to Heaven for granting me such an intellec-
tual and such a moral repast. I shall again be
thankful, if I am permitted again to see you,
and your wife and your children."

CHAPTER VIII.

1805.

Histories of the age of Leo X., Paulus Jovius, Fabroni. —
Collins' s projected history. — Warton. — Robertson. —
Mr. Roscoe urged to undertake it. — Letters to Lord
Bristol and Lord Holland. — Motives which injluenced
Mr. Roscoe. — Progress of the work. — Materials pro-
cured by Lord Holland — letter to him. — Assistance
rendered by the Italian scholars. — Mr. Johnson's offer
— correspondence with him — documents procured
through him. — Information obtained at Paris by the
Rev. William Shejtherd. — Letter to Fabroni. — The
progress of the work interrupted. — Sonnet. — Letter to
Dr. Smith. — Publication of the work. — Letter to Pre-
sident Jefferson, and answer. — Letter to Dr. Smith. —
Letter from Mr. J. C. Walker, and answer. — Letter
from Mr. Mathias. — Other opinions in favour of the
work. — Sonnet by Mr. Hayley. — Letters to Lord St.
Vincent and to Dr. Parr. — Criticisms upon the work in
the Edinburgh Review — in other publications. — Mr.
Roscoe's feelings on the occasion — his answer to the
Edinburgh reviewers in the preface to the second edition.
— Letter to Professor Smyth. — Prepares, but does not
publish, an answer to his critics. — Letter from Mr.
Mathias. — Reception of the work abroad — in Ger-
many — is translated there — is translated in Italy by
Count Bossi — French translation — American edition. —
Effect of his literary labours on the health of Mr.
Roscoe. — letters to Fuseli and Lord Buchan.

303

CHAPTER VIII.

1 HE age of Leo X., fertile as it was in brilliant
events, and illustrated by the revival of letters
and arts in Europe, was long ere it found an
historian. The life of the pontiff had, indeed,
been written by Paulus Jovius, but not upon the
extended scale demanded by the subject ; and
again, after the lapse of two centuries, by the
learned Fabroni. But neither of these works,
however valuable as pieces of insulated bio-
graphy, conveyed an adequate idea either of the
political or of the literary history of that period.
Such a work had, indeed, been meditated by
several individuals, but it does not appear that
any progress was ever made in the design.
Collins the poet, about the middle of the last
century, is said to have published proposals for
such a history, — a project referred to by Dr.
"Warton, in his " Essay on the Life and Writings
of Pope ;" and mentioned also by Dr. Johnson,
with the observation that probably not a page of
the history was ever written. * The design was

* It appears, however, from a communication made by
the late Mr. Hayley to Mr. Roscoe, that Collins had pro-

304 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

revived, after the death of Collins, by Dr. Warton,
in conjunction with some of his learned and
accomplished friends. " In a conversation," says
Mr. Roscoe *, " which I had the pleasure of
enjoying with Dr. Warton, in the year 17'97»
the progress made in an undertaking which had
been so long announced to the public became
an object of my enquiry. By him I was informed
that it had been the intention of himself, his
brother, and several of their literary friends, to
give a history of the revival of letters, not only
in Italy, but in the principal countries of Europe,
and that the history of English poetry by Mr.
Thomas Warton was only a part of this great
design. When we advert to the various and
excellent critical productions of these liberal and
learned brothers, and consider, that amongst the
names of their coadjutors would probably have
been found those of West, of Walpole, of

ceeded so far as to prepare a preliminary dissertation to his
work. " Though the countrymen of the poet Collins," says
Mr. Hayley, " must ever lament his calamity, they have now
no reason to regret that his projected history of Leo was
never completed, — a work towards which he had made a
greater advance than his friends, the Wartons and Johnson,
imagined ; for one of my early companions informed me that
an elder brother of his (intimate with Collins) had heard
him read a preliminary discourse of great merit, which he
intended to prefix to the work in question. I have reason
to believe the discourse I speak of is irrecoverably lost."
» Preface to the " Life of Leo X."

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 305

Mason, and of Gray, we cannot sufficiently la-
ment the want of public encouragement, which
was, in all probability, the chief cause which pre-
vented this noble and extensive undertaking
from being carried into complete execution/'
At a later period, the history of the revival of
learning was suggested to the attention of Dr.
Robertson, but that accomplished writer does
not appear to have encouraged the idea.

Other writers, amongst whom may be men-
tioned the author of the History of the League
of Cambray, and Gordon, in his Lives of Alex-
ander VI. and Caesar Borgia, had illustrated
the political events of this period ; while its
literary history had been treated of in the in-
valuable pages of Tiraboschi, and of Mazzu-
chelli, but no adequate history had yet been
given of the Age of Leo X.

To Mr. Roscoe this subject had been sug-
gested from various quarters, immediately after
the publication of the ' Life of Lorenzo.' He
was strongly urged to the undertaking, both by
Lord Orford and Lord Bristol ; but it was some
time before he resolved to engage in a work so
laborious. In a letter addressed to the latter
nobleman, in the month of April, 1797* he says,
" Your Lordship's recommendation to me to
continue my narrative through the age of Leo X.
is certainly entitled to great attention, and will
have considerable weight in any determination

VOL. i. x

306 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

I may form in that respect. But the success of
such an undertaking would not rest on myself
alone. Whatever value my former work possesses
chiefly arises, as your Lordship is well aware, from
the documents which I have had the good for-
tune to obtain ; and to retail amongst my coun-
trymen a compound, elaborated from the works
of Jovius, or even the collections of Muratori, and
the Histories of Guicciardini, &c., would not, I
confess, gratify the literary ambition even of so
humble an author as myself.*'

To Lord Holland, who had liberally offered
his services, in procuring from Italy any original
documents which might be useful in throwing
new light on the Life and Age of Leo X., Mr.
Roscoe says, " It has been suggested to me
that a further prosecution of the subject which
has already been the object of my research, and
an extension of it through the Life of Leo X.,
might not be uninteresting to the public ; and it
is certain that I am not unprepared with consi-
derable materials for this purpose. But the
great extent of such a work, the difficulty of
obtaining original materials to give a sufficient
degree of novelty, and the devotion of time
which it will unavoidably require, have hitherto
made me hesitate on the expediency of such an
undertaking. The information in your note, of
the favourable idea entertained, by learned and
well-informed Italians, of my former exertions,

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

and the generous and unexpected offers of as-
sistance in the acquisition of materials towards
a further extension of the work, are powerful
inducements with me to engage in such an
undertaking ; and should I eventually adopt
this resolution, I shall avail myself of your
Lordship's recommendation to Fabroni, with
the hope that you will excuse the trouble I may
then be under the necessity of giving you."

The motives which influenced Mr. Roscoe in
the decision to which he ultimately came, are
adverted to in his preface to the " Life of Leo."
" The same considerations which have deterred
others from engaging in so laborious and ha-
zardous an attempt, would, in all probability,
have produced a similar effect on myself, had
I not been led, by imperceptible degrees, to a
situation in which I could scarcely, with either
propriety or credit, have declined the task.

" The history of the ' Life of Lorenzo de'
Medici,' the father of Leo X., had opened the
way to a variety of researches, not less connected
with the events of the ensuing period, than with
those of the times for which they were imme-
diately intended, and even that work was con-
sidered by many, perhaps not unjustly, as only
the vestibule to a more spacious building, which
it would be incumbent on the author at some
future period to complete. Since that publica-
tion, the friendship and liberality of several dis-

x 2

308 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

tinguished characters, both at home and abroad,
have supplied me with many valuable commu-
nications and original documents, which, without
their countenance and favour, it would not have
been in my power to obtain. To have withheld
these materials from the public, would have de-
feated the purpose for which they were com-
municated; and to have shrunk from the task
under such circumstances, would have given
occasion for a construction almost as unfavour-
able to myself as the failure of success. These
reflections have induced me, amidst the constant
engagements of an active life, to persevere in an
undertaking which has occasionally called for
exertions beyond what my time, my talents, or
my health, could always supply ; and I now
submit to the public the result of the labours
of many years, in the best form in which, under
the circumstances, it has been in my power to
offer it to their acceptance."

The additional leisure afforded to Mr. Roscoe
by his retirement from business powerfully se-
conded these considerations, and in the autumn
of the year 1798 he began to apply himself
sedulously to his new labours. For these he
was partially prepared by the researches which
the "Life of Lorenzo de'Medici" had demanded;
and to the kindness of Lord Holland he was
indebted for the first supply of original materials
from the archives of Florence. " I have re-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 309

ceived letters from Florence," says his Lord-
ship, in a letter dated the 12th of December,
1798, " in answer to your requests, and have
every reason to hope that the business will be
pursued with as much diligence as possible.
The person who has undertaken to copy the
manuscripts is highly flattered with the com-
mission, and the Grand Duke has been so good
as to facilitate his undertaking, by allowing him
access at all times to the library, and by pro-
mising him any assistance he may require. Mr.
Penrose intended to return to Florence, in a
few days after he received my letter, and has
engaged to superintend the transcription, as well
as to make all possible enquiries about the ma-
nuscripts at Rome, which, however, were always
in a very confused state, and a great part of
which have been either removed or destroyed
by the French. At any rate, I confide in Mr.
Penrose making all the exertions possible, as he
is too much a man of letters and taste not to
contribute all in his power for the purpose of
inducing you to favour the public with another
historical work."

The manuscripts thus procured consisted of
a series of letters and papers, forming two folio
volumes, and illustrating, in a very copious man-
ner, the early history of the Pontiff. " For this
valuable collection," says Mr. Roscoe, in the
preface to the * Life of Leo,' " I am indebted to

x 3

310 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

the obliging and disinterested interference of a
nobleman, who adds dignity to his station, not
only by the firm and consistent tenour of his
public conduct, but by his encouragement of
those literary studies in which he has himself
made so distinguished a proficiency/*

The great scholars of Italy, with that liberality
which adds grace to learning, generously con-
tributed their advice and assistance in procuring
materials for the work. " In adverting to the
assistance which I have derived from the city
of Florence," says Mr. Roscoe, in his preface,
" that cradle of the arts in modern times, I
must not omit to notice the favours conferred on
me by the late venerable and learned Canonico
Angelo Maria Bandini, principal librarian of the
Laurentian library there To this emi-
nent man, who retained his early and ardent
love to literature to the close of his days, I am
indebted for the communication of several scarce
and valuable documents, both printed and ma-
nuscript, as well as for various letters, indicating
to me, with the utmost attention and minute-
ness, those sources of information which his
long and intimate acquaintance with the sub-
jects of the following volumes had enabled him
to point out." *

* Some of the letters of Bandini are printed in the Ap-
pendix (No. VIII.) to the Illustrations of the Life of Lorenzo
de' Medici.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 31]

The state of public affairs on the Continent,
at this period, was such as to afford Mr. Roscoe
little hope of procuring from Rome the valuable
information which the archives of the Vatican,
and the other collections in that city, afforded.
He had also lost the friendly assistance of Mr.
Clarke, whose researches had contributed so
much to the enrichment of his former work ;
but for this loss he was, in a great degree,
indemnified by the unsolicited kindness of a
stranger. When almost on the point of aban-
doning his work in despair, Mr. Roscoe received
from Mr. John Johnson, a gentleman then tra-
velling through Italy, the most gratifying offers
of assistance. " Having learned," says Mr. John-
son, " from Signor Bandini, that you are em-
ployed in writing the * Life of Leone X.,' I take
the liberty of informing you that I propose pass-
ing the ensuing winter in Rome, where it is
probable that, from my acquaintance with the
Cardinal Borgia, the Abbe Marini, Prefetto dell*
Archivio Vaticano, &c. &c., I may be able to
procure you some materials for your work. I
confess I should not have taken the liberty of
writing to you, until I had been able to give you
some efficient indication of my wish to serve
you, but from the idea that you could render
my researches more useful, by giving precise
directions respecting any particular documents

which you might wish to have examined

x 4

312 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

I beg to repeat, that nothing should have tempted
me to obtrude myself on your notice, but the
hope of augmenting the literary means of an
author who has given to the world a work, which
the literati of Tuscany read and speak of with
astonishment and delight."

To this liberal and friendly communication,
Mr. Roscoe replied in the following letter : —

" My very sincere acknowledgments are due
for your obliging letter of the 1st of October,
which should have been sooner answered, had I
not been confined to my room by an attack of
nervous fever, from which I am only just reco-
vered. The interest which you are so good as
to take in my researches respecting the Life of
Leo X. encourages me to state to you, that, with
respect to such information as the archives of
-Florence can supply, I am already, by the assist-
ance of Lord Holland, possessed of copies of
letters, &c. which compose two folio volumes, of
upwards of 300 pages each. These, with such
assistance as I occasionally derive from the re-
spectable Canonico Bandini, will furnish me the
necessary information. Yet, if any thing should
t)ccur to me, I shall take the liberty of address-
ing myself to the learned Abbate Fontani, to
whose kindness I have before been indebted,
and from whose very able assistance and advice
I know I should derive great advantages.

" With respect to Rome, I have not yet had

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 313

an opportunity of obtaining any materials from
that quarter, although the Vatican certainly con-
tains an immense fund of information respecting
the subject of my work. Your assistance in this
respect will, therefore, be considered by me as a
great obligation. As my work will contain a
pretty full account of the pontificates of Alex-
ander VI. and Julius II., whatever relates to or
elucidates either of their public characters will
be of great use. With respect to the pontificate
of Leo X., every thing that refers to it will be
of importance to me, — whether it concerns his
political transactions and negotiations, his en-
couragement of literature and art, his conduct,
both in public and private life ; in short, what-
ever has any connection with his history, or with
that of any branch of his family. I find, that
anecdotes and circumstances, trivial and unim-
portant in themselves, often acquire value from
comparison with other parts of a person's cha-
racter and conduct; and I wish to collect all I
can respecting this pontiff, in order to enable
me to appreciate, so far as is in my power, his

very extraordinary and equivocal character.

* * *****

" I would not, if it had been in my power,
have lost a single day in replying to your letter,
as I shall send the first volume of my work to
the press in the course of this winter. Whatever,
therefore, relates to the times of Alexander VI.
and Julius II. will be immediately wanted j but

314> LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

any memorials of Leo X. will be in time, if they
arrive during the course of the next summer.

" The freedom which I have taken will con-
vince you that I place an implicit confidence in
your obliging offers, which are indeed made with
such frankness, that I cannot hesitate in availing
myself of them."

The feverish attack mentioned in the fore-
going letter was induced by the unremitting
devotion with which Mr. Roscoe prosecuted his
biographical studies, from which he was for some
time interdicted by his friend, Dr. Currie.

The documents obtained from Rome, through
the intervention of Mr. Johnson, consisted both
of manuscripts and of printed books. Amongst
the former was the fragment of an unpublished
Life of Leo, written in Latin, and carried down
to the year 1516. Amongst the printed books
were many scarce and valuable tracts, which
could not have been procured in England. But
the kindness of Mr. Johnson did not terminate
here. Having visited Venice on his return to
England, he used his good offices with the cele-
brated Abbate Morelli, librarian of the S. Marco,
and procured from him a list of books and docu-
ments which might be found useful to a bio-
grapher of Leo X. This circumstance led to a
literary intercourse with Morelli, productive of
much pleasure and information to Mr. Roscoe. *

* A letter from Morelli is printed in the Appendix to the
Illustrations of the Life of Lorenzo de' Medici (No. IX.).

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 315

The National Library at Paris contributed
also to the materials for the work. The Diary
of Paris de Grassis, of which extracts only had
been printed, existed entire in that collection ;
and Mr. Roscoe was very desirous of inspecting
other portions of the manuscript. " It hap-
pened, fortunately for my purpose," says Mr.
Roscoe, in his preface, " that in the summer of
the year 1802, my particular friend and neigh-
bour, the Reverend Mr. Shepherd, well known
as the Author of ' The Life of Poggio Brac-
ciolini,' paid a visit to Paris. On this occasion,
I scrupled not to request his assistance in exa-
mining for me the different manuscripts of the
' Diary of Paris de Grassis,' and making such
extracts from them, in the original, as he con-
ceived would be interesting. As no one could
be better qualified for such a task, so no one
could have entered upon it with greater alacrity.
During his stay at Paris, a considerable portion
of his time was passed in these researches, in
which he met with every possible facility from
the librarians ; and, on his return, he brought
with him several curious extracts, which have
enabled me to throw additional light on the his-
tory of Leo X., and particularly on the singular
circumstances attending his death."

The assistance of various persons of intelli-
gence and learning in England was also freely
afforded ; and the spirits of the writer, which oc-

316 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

casionally flagged in the course of his laborious
task, were supported by the kindness thus ex-
tended to him. In transmitting to Fabroni a
copy of the Life of Lorenzo, he describes the
progress he had then made in the biography of
Leo : —

" I wait for your ' Life of Leo J with the impa-
tience of a traveller by night, who expects the
moon shortly to rise and direct his way. In the
course of last winter I sketched the first volume
of my work on the same subject, which places
Leo on the pontifical throne ; the remainder
will, I apprehend, occupy two other volumes,
and the fourth will be devoted to the appendix.
This arrangement, you will easily perceive, will
require much time to complete ; and as I con-
sider it rather as the offspring of my leisure than
as my occupation, it will be some years before I
can hope to lay my researches before the public.
In the meantime, I have been assiduous, and not
unsuccessful, in my enquiries. By the assistance
of Lord Holland, and of Mr. Penrose, the British
Resident at Florence, I have received numerous
documents from the archives of that place,
which have thrown great light on the life and
early part of the pontificate of Leo X. These
I have already employed in a great degree in my
narrative, and I doubt not your learned and
judicious work will furnish me with much addi-
tional information."

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 317

Although for some time after its commence-
ment the "Life of Leo "proceeded with rapidity,
yet it was seldom that the regular and unin-
terrupted attention of the author could be be-
stowed upon it. At the conclusion of the year
1799 the work was, as we have seen, thrown
aside for many months, in consequence of the
important commercial engagements in which he
became involved, and which continued after-
wards to claim the greater portion of his time.
He was also, upon more occasions than one, pre-
vented from prosecuting his labours by illness,
induced by the intensity of his application. But
notwithstanding these checks, the work con-
tinued to grow under his hands, and the labour
of years gradually approached its conclusion.

To this period may be referred the composi-
tion of the following

SONNET.

" O'er the deserted waste of ages past,

As lone I wander, hover round my head,

Ye mighty Spirits of the illustrious Dead!
Mail'd Warriors, laurell'd Bards, whose fame shall last
Through future times ! For you the gay repast,

The social circle, and the downy bed

I quit, and, by your bright illusions led,
Pursue my course ; or when the wintry blast
Sings o'er the heath, or Autumn browns the shade,

Or Spring returns the face of Heaven to cheer ;
Ah, not in vain my ardent vows be paid,
And may your ripening honours full display 'd,

The dearest guerdon to .your votary bear,

For many a toilsome day, and many a patient year."

318 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

The feelings of Mr. Roscoe at this time are
described in a letter to Dr. Smith, written on the
1st of January, 1804.

" On the return of our honest friend Shep-
herd, I wrote you a hasty letter, intending to
have followed it by one more expressive of what
I felt for your kindness to him ; but a most violent
effort to free myself from the heavy task in
which I am engaged, and the continual pressure
of business, with my journeys between Allerton
and Liverpool, have so devoured every moment
of my time, that day after day has passed on, till
the conclusion of the year, without my being able
to fulfil my wishes. I am now, however, deter-
mined to be somewhat more my own master.
Since you left Liverpool, I have copied and pre-
pared for the press as much as will compose my
two first volumes. The remainder is in great
forwardness, and, if I enjoy my health for a few
months, will, I hope, be completed. M'Creery
begins to print with the new year, and promises
to proceed with great rapidity. My arrange-
ments with Messrs. Cadell and Davies are made
to my satisfaction ; and in the spring of 1805 I
am in hopes I shall make my appearance before
the public in the pompous shape of four splendid
quartos. The labour of correcting, &c. I regard
as nothing, in comparison with that which I have
had in the collecting of materials, and in the
composition of the work ; and hence, though

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 3J9

much remains to be done, I find my mind
lighter than it has been for some time, on ac-
count of the long and laborious road that lay
before me. You, who have so frequently engaged
in important literary undertakings, will know
how to sympathise with a brother author, in the
enthusiasm of his pursuit, the cheering pro-
spect of success, the apprehensions of disappoint-
ment, and the lassitude of fatigue ; and will easily
perceive that, as the barometer rises or falls
through these degrees, it is to us writers the
foul or fair weather of human life."

The long and tedious labour, which the com-
position of the work had required, rendered
Mr. Roscoe, at its conclusion, sensible to little
else than the relief which its completion afforded.
" The work," he says, to one of his correspond-
ents, " was advertised for publication in London
on Saturday last. What its reception may be I
know not, nor do I distress myself by any un-
common anxiety on that head. An author who
has been so long employed in preparing his
works for the public, resembles, in some respects,
a man who has been a long time sick, and cares
not whether he lives or dies, so that he be re-
leased from his trouble. This indifference, how-
ever, does not extend to the particular friends,
whom I have the happiness to know and esteem,
and to whose pleasure and amusement I should be
glad to think it was in my power to contribute."

320 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

At length, in the summer of 1805, the work,
which had been in the press upwards of two
years, was published.* The first impression,
which consisted of 1000 copies, being double
the number of the first edition of Lorenzo, was
nearly all disposed of soon after its publication ;
and the most gratifying expectations were enter-
tained by the author, with regard to the success
of a work which he looked upon as the comple-
tion of his former task, and the termination of
his historical labours. " Although the * Life of
Leo X.,J" he says, in an unpublished tract, " is
given to the public as a separate and inde-
pendent work, yet it is evident that I considered
it as a sort of continuation of my former history of
the * Life of Lorenzo de' Medici.' The trans-
actions that occurred in the interval between the
death of Lorenzo and the election of Leo in-
clude some events of the greatest curiosity and
importance in modern history ; and I was,
therefore, unwilling to pass over them by a
meagre and uninteresting narrative. Let me
also confess, however it may subject me to the

* The time employed upon the composition of the " Life
of Leo" may partly be gathered from the dates in the ori-
ginal MS., now in the library of the Athenaeum, at Liverpool.
The date at the commencement of the second volume is
5th December, 1800; of the third, 15th February, 1802;
and of the fourth, 21st January, 1803. One half of his
copyright in the work was disposed of to Messrs. Cadell and
Davies for the liberal sum of 2000/.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

charge of arrogance and presumption, that I
was desirous of embracing, as far as my subject
would allow, the history of the principal events in
Europe, from the downfall of Constantinople to
the accession of Charles V. ; and of thus connect-
ing, although by a link of very inferior work-
manship, the golden histories of Gibbon and of
Robertson."

Mr. Roscoe, as was his custom, presented
copies of his new work to many of his friends,
and to a few distinguished persons to whom he
was anxious to show his regard. Amongst the
latter was Thomas Jefferson, then President of
the United States, to whom the volumes were
sent accompanied by the following letter : —

"It is with particular pleasure that I avail
myself of the opportunity afforded me, by the
publication of my ' History of the Life and Pon-
tificate of Leo X.,' of requesting you will do me
the honour of accepting a copy, as a very hum-
ble but sincere mark of the respectful esteem
and attachment of the author. In thus venturing
to introduce my own productions to your notice,
I am sensible I may be accused of presumption ;
but from such a charge I find a sufficient shelter
in the reflection, that history is the peculiar
study of those in high stations, whose opinions
and conduct have an important influence on the
destiny of mankind. I also flatter myself with
the hope that the principles contained in this

VOL. i. Y

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

work will be found in unison with those senti-
ments of enlightened toleration, liberal policy,
and universal benevolence, which have been no
less strikingly evinced in your practice, than
energetically recommended and enforced in your
public addresses to the nation over which you
preside.

" I have transmitted these volumes through
the hands of my particular friend, Mr. Ralph
Eddowes, of Philadelphia ; who some years since
left this place to reside with his family in Ame-
rica, and whose talents, integrity, and temperate
firmness would do credit to any country."

" By some accident," says Mr. Jefferson in
reply, " which has not been explained to me,
your letter of June 4. 1805, and the copy of your

* History of the Pontificate of Leo X.,' which
you were so kind as to destine for me, have lain
in one of our custom-houses near a twelvemonth.
The letter is now received, and the book ex-
pected by the first conveyance. I pray you to
receive my thanks for this mark of your atten-
tion ; and I anticipate with pleasure the reading
of a work, which, for its taste and science, will,
I doubt not, stand worthily on the shelf with the

* Life of Lorenzo de' Medici.' My busy country-
men are as yet too actively occupied to enter the
lists in the race of science. When the more
extended improvement of their country, and its
consequent wealth, shall bring them the neces-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 323

sary leisure, they will begin their career on the
high ground prepared by their transatlantic bre-
thren, from the days of Homer to the present
time. May the range of their flight be worthy
of the height from which it commences ; and
may the due employment of the talent given
them by their masters in that line merit to
them the benediction of * Well done, good and
faithful servants ! ' I pray you to accept my salu-
tations, and assurances of great respect and con-
sideration."

To his friend Dr. Smith, Mr. Roscoe thus
wrote on the same occasion : —

" I have long intended to write to you, but
have been prevented by a continual succession
of unavoidable occupation and bodily indispo-
sition, and sometimes by the junction of both.

" Leo's reckoning is now made, and he must
be sent to his account with all his imperfections.
In the course of a few days after this comes to
hand you will receive a copy, which, from its
size, would terrify a man of much less occupation
than yourself; and which you will naturally lay
aside, till you can muster courage and find time
to make so formidable an attack. Of the re-
ception of this work I am, in many respects,
doubtful ; but I do not suffer my apprehensions
to render me miserable. I have taken all the
pains in my power, to make it deserving of the
public notice ; and have endeavoured to express

Y 2

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

the peculiar opinions which it may contain with
decency, though with freedom. If all this will
not do, I cannot help it; nor would I alter or
suppress those opinions, to obviate censure or
obtain applause. In one place or another, I
have found an opportunity of expressing my sen-
timents on the great subjects of politics, morals,
religion, and taste, as well as on a variety of in-
ferior topics, which I hope are not impertinently
introduced ; and by these sentiments I am con-
tent to be judged, so long as my book may con-
tinue to be read."

The most flattering testimonies of approbation,
from those whose judgment on the subject was
most worthy of regard, followed the appearance
of the work.

" I should perhaps," says Mr. J. C. Walker,
" have acknowledged sooner the receipt of the
inestimable present which you have done me the
honour to send me ; but the truth is, I was so
powerfully captivated by the charms of the work,
that I could not prevail on myself to suspend the
perusal, even to perform a duty of gratitude. I
will not, however, delay any longer to offer you
my warmest thanks for the rich accession you
have made to my collection. I was not entitled
to, nor did I presume to expect, so magnificent
a present. I was not, therefore, less surprised
than delighted at the receipt of it. It has been
my study day and night ever since it reached me.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 325

* It is,' as Mr. Hayley observes, ' a noble work,
worthy of its subject and its author.'

" I am astonished at the immense mass of
curious and interesting information it contains,
and charmed with the clearness of the arrange-
ment, and the simple elegance of the style. You,
and your friend Mr. Shepherd, have completed, in
a most masterly manner, the history of the revival
of letters. I hope it is not true that you do not
mean to pursue your researches further into the
literary history of Italy. Such a determination
would be matter of general regret.

" During the perusal of your work it often oc-
curred to me, that every admirer of the golden
days of Leo has reason to rejoice that Dr. Ro-
bertson did not, as he once intended, occupy
your subject. To the political part he might
have done justice; but in the literary department,
and in the history of the arts, he would certainly
have failed. Robertson shines in the cabinet
and in the field, but (if I may so express myself)
he does not seem at home in the academy. He
does not appear to have cultivated with ardour
what is generally understood by the term elegant
literature ; nor does he seem to have had much
taste in the fine arts * : so that his * History of the

* Hume appears to have held the same opinion as Mr.
Walker. " As to the Age of Leo X." he says, in a letter
to Dr. Robertson, " it was Warton himself who intended to

Y 3

326 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

Age of Leo* must have been very imperfect. It
is no flattery to say that you have proved your-
self qualified in every way for the great under-
taking."

" I have to thank you," says Mr. Roscoe, in
answer to another letter from the same corre-
spondent, " for your obliging communication of
the opinion of your Italian correspondent, and
still more for that of Dr. Burney, on my late pub-
lication ; there being few persons now living
whose judgment I should so highly respect, or
whose approbation I should be so earnest to ob-
tain. I fear, however, that neither these, nor
your own kind encouragement, will induce me
to engage myself further in the history or litera-
ture of Italy. Having said all that I had to say,
I feel not the slightest disposition to intrude my-
self again on the public notice. If my writings
have any merit, they are certainly voluminous

write it ; but he has not wrote it, and probably never will.
If I understand your hint, I should conjecture that you have
some thoughts of taking up the subject: but how can you
acquire knowledge of the great works of sculpture, architec-
ture, and painting, by which that age was chiefly distin-
guished ? Are you versed in all the anecdotes of the Italian
literature ? These questions I heard proposed in a company
of literati, when I enquired concerning this design of Warton.
They applied their remarks to that gentleman ; who, yet,
they say, has travelled. I wish they do not all of them fall
more fully on you." — Stewart's Life of Robertson: Ap-
pendix.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 327

enough ; if not, I have already done too much.
Having so long claimed the attention of others,
I shall, in my turn, willingly become a hearer ;
and shall expect with impatience the result of
your further enquiries on those subjects which
you have, in some of their branches, so happily
illustrated."

Amongst the various persons to whom Mr.
Roscoe looked with anxiety for a judgment upon
his labours, there was no one who held a more
prominent position than Mr. Mathias ; and it
was therefore with peculiar satisfaction that he
received the following letter, written immediately
after the publication of the work : —

" I feel a very sensible pleasure in possessing
this new and most interesting production of your
genius, your learning, and your unwearied ap-
plication for the essential interests of Italy and
of this country ; as it may be justly said of you, in
the words of Ariosto to one of his friends —

" Tieni d* ambe le lingue i bei segreti."

" I have not yet had it in my power to gratify
myself by the continued perusal of this great
national work, but propose, when I return home
from an excursion I am just about to undertake, to
have that pleasure and satisfaction ; the inspection
of some detached portions of it have left me con
la bocca dolce. It is peculiarly delightful to me,

Y 4

328 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

that the Canzone which I addressed to you, ex-
pressing my sense of the obligations which this
country and Italy must for ever feel for your
unparalleled exertions, is not forgotten on the
banks of the Mersey. It is also a consolation
that my boldness in attempting to strike the lyre
of Tuscany, and on such a subject, has met with
that excuse I could scarce have expected.

" A Te drizzai il mio stil ; per te son oso
D' esser primo a versar nei nostri lidi
Del divin fonte che, con tanto onore,
Gtestb di Paradifo il gran pittore."

You will pardon my altering a few lines of Ala-
manni as an apology for my presumption."

From his publishers also Mr. Roscoe received
very satisfactory information respecting his work.
" Of * LeoX.,'" they say, " the accounts we have
received from various quarters, including many
of our most respectable literary friends, are of
the most gratifying description. Dr. Gillies, Mr.
Malone, Dean Vincent, Dr. Sturges, are amongst
those who have very recently expressed their
high satisfaction with the work."

Nor were poetical testimonies to the merits of
the work wanting. For the following sonnet
Mr. Roscoe was indebted to the muse of Mr.
Hayley.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

" Joy and renown attend the happy hour

When Taste and Truth their finish'd task proclaim

Their English temple to the Tuscan name !
ROSCOE ! on thee may all the Muses shower
Due wreathes of glory, graced with every flower,

Worthy to crown their fav'rite, skill'd to frame

This grand Pantheon of historic fame,
Secure to triumph o'er Oblivion's power.
'Tis thine departed merit to embalm,

And drive Detraction's vultures from their prey;
Thine the historian's, thine the poet's palm,

As Nature's mirror we thy work survey,
Faithful though vast ! Thus Ocean, clear and calm,

Reflects each light and shade the heavens display."

" I may well rejoice," says Mr. Roscoe, in
offering his acknowledgments to Mr. Hayley, —
" I may well rejoice in the approbation of one
of whose applause Gibbon was proud, and in
whose friendship Cowper reposed with confi-
dence ; but I am too conscious of the defects
of my publications to attribute to their merits
that commendation, which is more properly the
result of the liberality of your character and the
benevolence of your disposition."

Satisfactory as were these testimonies of indi-
vidual approbation, Mr. Roscoe was well aware
that there were portions of his work which
would be received by many persons with very
different feelings. The tone of political senti-
ment prevailing throughout its pages, and the
views taken of the character of Luther, and of
the conduct of the early reformers, were little

330 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

calculated to conciliate the favourable opinion of
a large class of persons. That he was fully
aware of the hazard he ran in treating of these
subjects, appears from a letter addressed to
Lord St. Vincent * a few weeks before the pub-
lication of the work.

" Your Lordship's repeated kindness en-
courages me to mention that a work on which I
have been employed for several years, the * Life
and Pontificate of Leo X.,' is now nearly printed,
and will, I expect, make its appearance in the
course of two months. On referring to this
period it will immediately occur to your Lord-
ship, that a publication on this subject must
comprise some topics of considerable delicacy,
as well in religion and politics, as in morals and
literature ; or, in other words, must involve those
questions which have given rise to dissension and
persecution in all subsequent times. In the ac-
count of the Reformation, I am well aware that
my book will give satisfaction neither to the
Catholics nor the Protestants ; yet, of the two, I
apprehend most the displeasure of the latter. The
former have been so accustomed to be abused,
that they will receive with patience any tolerable

* His Lordship was an enthusiastic admirer of the " Life
of Leo." " A friend of Lord St. Vincent's," say Mr. Roscoe's
publishers, " told us, two or three weeks ago, that the old
hero was getting up every morning at five o'clock to read

Leo X."

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 331

degree of castigation ; but the latter, who con-
ceive their principles and conduct to be above
all censure, will be surprised to find their early
leaders accused of a spirit of intolerance and
uncharitableness, which has, unfortunately, con-
tinued with but little diminution to the present
day. Should your Lordship ever honour the
work by a perusal, I shall hope for a liberal and
candid construction of my opinions, both on this
and other subjects ; assuring your Lordship that,
however contradictory some of them may appear
to the received notions, both of characters and
of events, they have not been hastily adopted,
nor are they now delivered to the world without
the most serious and deliberate conviction that,
if they attract any notice whatever, they cannot
but be favourable to the cause of civil and re-
ligious liberty, and have a tendency to soothe
those animosities between nation and nation,
and sect and sect, which have so long afflicted
our quarter of the world."

In a letter accompanying a copy of the Life
of Leo presented to Dr. Parr, Mr. Roscoe thus
alludes to the manner in which he has treated
the character of Luther. " If the matter should
have the good fortune to please you, I shall have
less anxiety about the manner ; and I flatter my-
self that, upon the most important topics, I shall
not often be found greatly at variance with
those liberal sentiments which you have fre-

332 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

quently so well expressed, and so eloquently
enforced. In appreciating the character of
Luther, I have followed the dictates of my own
judgment, without desire to flatter or intention
to offend ; and whatever may be thought of my
observations in other respects, they will not, I
hope, be found to breathe that narrow and sec-
tarian spirit which has characterised almost all
preceding writers on this subject."

The anticipations of Mr. Roscoe, with regard
to the reception which his work was likely to
experience in some quarters, were fully realised.
In the Edinburgh Review*, although some par-
tial commendation was bestowed upon it, the
work was noticed in that spirit of asperity which
seems to have been designedly adopted in the
earlier stages of that publication. " Affectation
of sentiment, or of profound philosophical re-
flection,** the critic observes, " is not less fre-
quent, or less ridiculous, than the instances of
affectation in style.** The author is accused
of prejudice against Luther and of partiality to-
wards Leo ; and the alleged misdating of a letter
of the former is adduced as a proof of this as-
sertion. At the conclusion of the Review, the
faults of the work are summed up in the following
passage : —

" Upon the whole, then, these ponderous

* Vol. vii. p. 336.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 333

volumes have disappointed our expectations of
obtaining an adequate history of the revival of
learning*, — worthy at least of the importance
of the subject. The prevailing defect of the
work is a minute and tedious prolixity, and the
want of sufficient energy either of thought or of
style. The accumulation of materials does not
always add a proportionable value to history ; and
an author has learned but half the secrets of his
trade who is ignorant of the art of blotting, to
which the greatest writers have been indebted
for their success. No labour can be too great
to attain to perfection ; and if, instead of endea-
vouring, in his preface, to extenuate the general
defects of his history, Mr. Roscoe had transcribed
it over again, under the eye of some severe
critic, and had resolutely reduced it to half its
present size, the remainder, from the condensa-
tion of the narrative, would have acquired an
additional value, when every idle anecdote or
superfluous incident was carefully expunged, and
the redundance of sentiment or of diction re-
trenched. As it stands, the history may please
the dilettanti, to whom the medallions and verses

* " The Life and Pontificate of Leo X." did not profess
to be, nor was it intended by its author, as a history of the
revival of learning ; a subject which, as will be seen from
a letter subsequently given, Mr. Roscoe regarded as em-
bracing a much wider range than his own work, and to the
elucidation of which he did not profess himself equal.

334f LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

are, perhaps, a sufficient recommendation ; but
it neither will gratify the general reader, nor
ought it to supersede any future efforts upon
the subject, when the present edition has passed
away. In general, however, its materials will
always be valuable to future historians, by
whom the author's opinions, in matters of taste
and criticism, will always be respected, and
his writings impress us with one uniform con-
viction that he is a truly amiable and benevolent
man."

Such was the spirit in which the " Life of
Leo X." was noticed in a journal professedly
devoted to the extension of the same liberal
opinions, which it had been the constant object
of the author of that work to inculcate in every
page.

Other journals pronounced a judgment equally
unfavourable to the merits of the work. The
Christian Observer declared that its author was
" uniformly hostile to Christianity," and that
" he had received a retaining fee from the
Pope ;" that " he was afraid of apparitions ;" and
that «' he gave rise to a strong temptation to
burn him." The Critical Review asserted, that
" to approve of the moral and religious part of
his work, would render a person obnoxious to
the Society for the Suppression of Vice ; " and
bestowed upon his style the epithet of " maw-
kish," and upon the author the title of " Igno-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 335

Nor did he escape much better from
the hands of the conductors of the Literary
Journal, who discovered in him " the victim of
ill-directed studies," and stated that " a well-
informed child of ten years of age might give
him the lie direct."

Attacks of this nature few writers of any
reputation have escaped ; and it would scarcely
have been worth while to advert to them,
had it not been for the purpose of showing
the manner in which they were received by
Mr. Roscoe. That he felt them, is true; for
the sting even of the smallest and most in-
significant insect may occasion some degree of
pain. But this feeling soon passed away from
his mind.

The charge of misrepresentation and inac-
curacy, preferred by the Edinburgh Reviewers,
was the only one which could not be passed over in
silence ; and Mr. Roscoe took advantage of the
opportunity afforded by the publication of a
second edition, to give, in the preface, a full an-
swer to the accusation. At the conclusion of
this preface he thus notices the criticisms upon
that portion of his work which relates to the
Reformation, and which was, in fact, the source
of all the animosity of his critics.

" I cannot, however, finally quit this subject
without some notice of the charges which have
been so generally connected with those before

336 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

mentioned, and by which it has been insinuated,
or asserted, that I have endeavoured to discredit
the characters of the early reformers, and to de-
preciate the beneficial effects of the Reformation,
as well by a reference to the well-known per-
secution of Servetus, as on other occasions. In
answer to this, I must be allowed to observe, that
the idea that the following work is hostile to the
Reformation, is a misrepresentation industriously
circulated by those who, under the pretext of a
warm attachment to the cause of Protestantism,
are as adverse to all religious liberty as the most
bigotted Roman Catholic ; and that whoever
peruses the following pages with an impartial
eye, cannot fail to discover that, so far from de-
preciating the beneficial effects of the Reform-
ation, I have only had to regret that it was not
carried to the full extent for which its promoters
originally contended. To this I can add, with
great sincerity, that in adverting to the perse-
cutions of which Protestants have been guilty,
my only object has been to excite that abhorrence
of persecution, under every form and pretext,
which is the surest safeguard against its return.
If it should appear, as has been imputed to me,
that I have animadverted with more severity on
the Protestants than on the Papists, it is because
better things were to have been expected from
them ; because they, who asserted the right of
private judgment in themselves, ought not to

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 33J

have denied it to others j because they, who have
represented the cruelties and persecutions of the
church of Rome as the greatest of her abomi-
nations, ought to have been peculiarly cautious
how they gave rise to similar charges against
themselves ; and, lastly, because it is more pain-
ful to perceive a disgraceful blot among those
with whom we are nearly associated, than among
those who are further removed from us in prin-
ciples and opinions. Hence the persecution of
Servetus, conducted by Calvin, and approved
by Bullinger and Melancthon, has been exhibited
in those colours which it so justly merits ; and
should, if it were in my power, be still further
raised up, as a perpetual beacon, to guard man-
kind against the possible recurrence of an event
which outrages at once the feelings of humanity,
the dictates of common sense, and the religion of
Christ. It is not on the doctrinal tenets of any
established church, whatever its adherents may
believe, that we are to rely for the rejection of
those intolerant and persecuting principles which
have for so many ages disgraced the Roman see.
* Luther, Calvin, Cranmer, Knox, the founders of
the reformed church in their respective countries,
inflicted, as far as they had power and oppor-
tunity, the same punishments which were de-
nounced against their own disciples by the church
of Rome, on such as called in question any ar-
VOL. i. z

338 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

ticle in their creeds.' * To have freed the human
race from the dread of violence and persecution,
in the exercise of religion and the pursuit of
truth, would have conferred greater honour on
Luther than the enforcement of any dogmatical
opinions whatever. To his good intentions and
incorruptible integrity the following work bears
uniform and ample testimony : but with the
restraints of his superiors, Luther could not shake
off the trammels of his education ; and his highest
aim was only to establish another despotism in
the place of that from which he had himself
escaped. In thus sanctioning, by his opinion and
example, the continuance of an exterior and po-
sitive control over the consciences of mankind,
he confirmed the pretensions of the Roman See ;
and may more justly be said to have shared its
authority, than to have invalidated its unjust
assumptions. But the principles of toleration
are derived from higher views ; from an enlarged
idea of the Supreme Being ; from the cultivation
of generous and social affections ; and, in short,
from the exercise of the Christian religion as
taught by its great Founder, and not as perverted
by the ambition, the obstinacy, or the ignorance
of his erring followers.

" I trust it will be understood, that I have not
engaged in the foregoing discussions without

* Robertson's Charles V., book ii.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 339

great reluctance. To malicious interpretations,
ignorant cavils, and illiberal abuse, I entertain
the most perfect indifference; but in this instance
an error of some importance has been gravely
imputed to me. I could not expect that my
readers in general should enter upon an examin-
ation of the different writers on this subject, and
a long investigation of historical and ecclesiastical
evidence, to determine between me and my cen-
sors ; and I have therefore thought it necessary
to illustrate the subject by further authorities,
and to confirm the opinion which I have before
advanced. I feel it a duty towards those who
have honoured my writings with their appro-
bation, not to suffer them to be depreciated by
an unfounded charge in a point of historical fact ;
and a still greater duty not to relinquish the de-
fence of those principles of liberty, of toleration,
and of truth, which I have hitherto invariably
asserted, and which I shah1 continue to maintain,
independent alike either of censure or of praise."
In a letter to Professor Smyth he says, " I
must not, for a moment, allow you to think that
my feelings can be hurt by any of the critiques
that have yet been published on the * Life of
Leo X.' * * * To say the truth, I am more
sensible to your observation, * that my history
might have been condensed,' &c. than I am to all
the abuse of the reviewer. Yet I am by no means
disposed to concede this point without stating, in a

340 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

few words, my reasons for the method adopted by
me. Let me then be allowed to say, that I rather
consider myself as, in some degree, an original
historian, bringing before the public new docu-
ments, arid laying before them full information
on the subject which I have treated, than as a
writer extracting the essence of other historians,
and giving, in a few brilliant passages, a general
result. On this account, I am sensible that I
may at times appear prolix ; but if I can give real
information, I shall be well satisfied, without being
considered as a shining writer. If I have been
fortunate enough to lay a solid foundation, others
may ornament the superstructure ; but whatever
may be thought of my workmanship, the ma-
terials I have furnished can never be dispensed
with, whatever additions may be made to them.

" After all, if the importance of the facts
which I have related, and the interesting nature
of the topics of which I have treated, be con-
sidered, it will appear that I have dwelt on them
very briefly, and that it is, in fact, the number
and variety of the subjects of which I have had
to treat, rather than the extent to which I have
carried my discussions, that have extended my
work to its present length ; which, after all, will,
in the new edition, be comprised (without the
appendix) in four very moderate octavo volumes.
You shall soon hear from me again, probably
with some observations which I have already

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 341

drawn up, and which may be necessary to vin-
dicate myself from those charges of inaccuracy
and inattention brought forwards in such terms
of triumph by the ' Edinburgh Review.' "

The observations mentioned in this letter were
fully prepared for the press, and contained an
answer, not only to the strictures of the Edin-
burgh reviewers, but also to those of his other
critics. On a more mature consideration, how-
ever, he abandoned the idea of publishing a
defence of a work which had been received by
the public with approbation, and by all com-
petent judges with the most gratifying enco-
miums. Many passages of this unpublished
tract are written in his best style ; and it is to
be regretted that the subject was not such as to
render it worthy of publication. In the con-
cluding paragraph Mr. Roscoe has expressed
his wishes with respect to the character in
which, as a writer, it was his ambition to be
regarded.

" With this publication, to which I have been
reluctantly impelled, by the just defence of my-
self and my writings, I take a final and a grateful
leave of the public in the character of a literary
historian, — a character which I have been led to
assume, rather by accidental circumstances, than
by preparatory studies or deliberate intention.
Having now laid before them what I had to

z 3

&IFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

communicate, I have finished my task, and re-
turn with fresh ardour to the humbler but not
unimportant occupations of private life. If my
productions should still .continue to experience
the indulgence of my readers, few of them will
be inclined to deny that I have now written
enough. If the censures of my opponents be
well founded, I have long since written too
much ; yet I would gladly flatter myself in the
hope that my writings may preserve some faint
memorial of their author, and may exhibit him
as the friend of liberal studies, the admirer of
whatever is excellent in the human character,
and the advocate of truth, of liberty, and of
virtue."

Those upon whose taste and learning Mr.
Roscoe could with safety rely encouraged him
to receive these attacks upon his writings in
silence. " I trust you will long continue," says
Mr. Mathias, " to reap the satisfaction and
honour which must arise from all your well-
directed literary labours, in a nation which
should be grateful to you, and reject the idle
attacks which are in vain directed against works
which are permanent. If you will allow me
on this occasion to use some expressions in
the canzone I have written to Mrs. Wilmot,
they will have additional force and truth in my
opinion : —

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

* Non paventar : ride del volgo i scherni
L'augel de' vanni eterni
Di rugiada del ciel sparsi e nudriti:
Febo con alti inviti
Per strada non battuta e pellegrina
Piu d'un palma a te largo destina.' "

" With respect to my own works," says Mr.
Roscoe, in his answer to the foregoing letter, " to
which you so obligingly allude, I can truly say that
whilst I retain the favourable opinion of yourself
and a few other enlightened friends, whom I con-
sider as perfect judges of their merits and defects,
I feel no anxiety about the censures of such critics
as have pretended to decide upon them in some
of the periodical journals. In estimating these
critiques with as much impartiality as the feel-
ings of an author will allow, I find nothing of
sufficient importance to deserve a serious reply,
except a charge in the Edinburgh and some
other reviews, that I have, either through neg-
ligence or prejudice, affixed an erroneous date
to a letter from Luther to Leo X., and stated it
to be of the 6th April instead of the Cth Sep-
tember, 1520. This charge, of some importance
in itself, is rendered more so by its being made
the pretext of throwing a general calumny
on the historical part of my work ; and I am
therefore under the necessity of demonstrating,
which I have it completely in my power to do,
the correctness of my former statements, which

344 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

I shall throw into a preface to the new edition,
which will appear in a few weeks. Of this new
preface I propose to print a few copies in quarto,
one of which I hope to have the pleasure of
sending to you, to be annexed, if you think
proper, to the first edition of the work."

The reputation which the " Life of Lorenzo de*
Medici" had obtained on the Continent, and es-
pecially in Germany, where the translation of it
by Sprengel had become very popular, prepared
the way for the favourable reception of the
present work. Soon after its publication in
England, it found its way to the hands of a dis-
tinguished German scholar, M. Philip Henry
Conrad Henke, whose acquaintance with the
history of the revival of learning well qualified
him for the task which he undertook. Having
prevailed upon his friend Professor Glaser,
whose proficiency in the English language was
well known, to translate the work, he undertook
to enrich the version, with a preface, notes,
and dissertations ; and, in the course of 1806,
1807, and 1808, it appeared at Leipsic, in three
volumes, octavo. The manner in which M.
Henke executed his task reflects the greatest
credit on his erudition ; and his approbation of
the work, after his searching enquiries into its
correctness, is one of the strongest testimonies
that can be adduced in favour of Mr. Roscoe*s
merits as an historian. In his preface, the

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 345

editor has entered largely into the character of
the work, and his criticism may be usefully
compared with that of the English reviewers.
In particular he has done justice to the spirit
in which the Life is written, to the correct ap-
preciation of moral worth, to the reprobation
of treachery and cruelty, to the exposure of all
mean and grovelling vices, and to the uniform
support of honour, truth, and virtue.

It was not until the year 1816 that a trans-
lation of the " Life and Pontificate of Leo X."
appeared in Italy. In the course of that year
the first three volumes of a version into Italian,
from the pen of the Count Luigi Bossi, were
published at Milan. It was fortunate that the
undertaking fell into hands so able, Count Bossi
being distinguished by his attachment to the
literary history of his country, and by the suc-
cess of his own compositions. Like the German
translator, he added, with industry and judg-
ment, a variety of notes and documents illus-
trative of the original text ; and the translation
of the whole work was completed in the course
of the year 1817, in twelve volumes, octavo,
ornamented with numerous plates of portraits
and medals. Of this translation upwards of
2800 copies have been dispersed in Italy, not-
withstanding the denunciation of it by the
pontiff, Leo XII., who consigned it to the
Index Expurgatorius. Upon the receipt of

346 LIFE OF WILLIAM HOSCOE.

the earlier volumes of the version, Mr. Roscoe
addressed to Count Bossi the following letter : —

" I have had the pleasure of receiving your
letter, accompanying the three first volumes of
the translation into Italian of the ' Life of Leo X. ;'
and I assure you I am fully sensible of the honour
done to my work in its being thought worthy of
being adopted into the language of that country
to which it more particularly relates. This sa-
tisfaction is greatly increased by the consider-
ation that those literary studies and pursuits, that
have been so long repressed by the calamitous
state of public affairs, are again reviving, as well
in Italy as in other parts of Europe, and that we
may hope once more to enjoy that friendly inter-
course which extends the family of mankind, and
is indispensable to their improvement and hap-
piness.

" For the favourable manner in which you
have spoken of my work, and for the attention
you have paid in giving a faithful version of it,
I feel myself much indebted, and can add with
pleasure that, as far as I have examined it, I find
it rendered with sufficient accuracy : — of the
propriety of dividing the chapters into sections
I entertain some doubt. But if, on the one
hand, it interrupts the thread of the narrative,
on the other, it may, perhaps, tend to assist the
recollection of the reader, which in a very long

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 347

chapter is not unlikely to be wearied ; and in
this view I feel reconciled to the alteration.

" The disadvantages incurred by your having
commenced your work from a French translation
is a subject of much greater regret, as some of
the passages omitted are essential to the course
of the narrative, or consist of those reflections
which naturally result from it. The omission of
those passages by the French translator would
be unpardonable, were there not some excuse
from the wretched state of subjugation to which
the press has been reduced in France by the
jealousy of her rulers. You have, however,
done all that was in your power to repair this
defect; and in case your work should be reprinted
will, I doubt not, take care that these passages
are properly restored, so that the work may be,
as you express it, genuina ed intiera in tutte le
sue parti.

" I should have been happy to have marked
my approbation of your labours, by complying
with your request of furnishing you, with such
additional documents as have come to my hands
since the publication of my last edition ; but
my opportunities of collecting additional in-
formation since the publication of my work
have not been great ; and I am more likely to
be indebted to those who have done me the
honour of translating them, particularly into the
German and Italian languages, than they are to

348 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

be assisted by me. Allow me, then, to recom-
mend to your attention, whenever you may have
an opportunity of consulting them, the transla-
tions of the * Life of Lorenzo de* Medici' by
M. Sprengel ; and that of ' Leo X.' by Professor
Glaser, with the annotations of the late M.
Henke. In the prefaces, dissertations, and notes
on these works, you will find considerable inform-
ation, and many questions candidly discussed.
A taste for illustrating the literary history of
Italy has of late made a considerable progress in
Germany as well as in England ; and I trust this
taste will be still further extended, inasmuch as it
is certainly to the labours of your distinguished
countrymen, whose lives and works are thus
commemorated, that Europe is chiefly indebted
for the improvement and eminence she at this
day enjoys.

" As a testimony of my respect, and of the
sense I feel of the honour you have done me,
may I beg your acceptance of a copy on large
paper of the * Life of Leo,' which I have or-
dered to be delivered to M. Vittore Lanetti, to
be forwarded to you at Milan."

A translation into French appeared at Paris
in the year 1808, in four vols. octavo, from
the pen of M. P. F. Henry, and a second and
more correct edition was published in 1813.
In the preface to the latter the translator says,

" Quant a ma traduction, je 1'ai retouchee

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 349

avec tout le soin dont j'ai etc capable, sans que
toutefois je puisse me flatter de 1'avoir rendue
digne d'un ouvrage que son merite reconnu a
fait passer dans presque toutes les langues de
1'Europe."

In America the " Life of Leo X." was re-
printed soon after its publication in this country,
with the omission of the documents contained in
the appendix. It had not, however, the success
which attended the American edition of the
" Life of Lorenzo." — " My edition," says Mr.
Bronson of Philadelphia, who had republished
the Leo, " has met with tolerable success, though
it has not sold as rapidly as I had reason to ex-
pect. I have, however, the gratification of find-
ing that it is highly approved and relished by
men who occupy the first rank of taste and
literature in our country."

The long and unintermitted labour which the
composition of Leo had demanded, produced
its natural effect on the mind of Mr. Roscoe,
and some time elapsed before his health and his
spirits resumed their usual tone. " For my own
part," he says in a letter addressed to Mr. Fuseli
in the summer of 1805, " I am endeavouring to
acquire the habit of idleness. After having
finished my work, the sudden transition from ex-
treme attention to a state of comparative leisure
is not easy. The effects of that labour and
fatigue, which I scarcely felt in the eagerness of

350 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

pursuit, have now overtaken me — the storm is
over, but the waves swell. I am idle without
being at rest, and am obliged to turn to other
occupations for relief. Luckily, these are neither
few nor unimportant. The drainage and im-
provement of some thousand acres of land, which
I am about to commence, might satisfy the rage
of any reasonable man ; and with this I have
other objects, as you well know, which require
no small portion of my time. As an author
I have taken my final farewell of the public."

With the publication of the " Life of Leo X."
the enquiries of Mr. Roscoe into Italian litera-
ture terminated. Further labours of the same
kind were suggested to him, but he declined to
attempt them. " The history of the rise and
progress of literature and the fine arts in Italy,"
he says in a letter to Lord Buchan, " which
your Lordship recommends to my consideration,
is, indeed, a noble subject, but to execute it
would require a fortunate union of talents, ac-
quirements, and circumstances, which it has not
fallen to my lot to enjoy. In what I have
already done I have taxed my exertions to the
height, and neither my health nor my leisure
would permit me to engage in so extensive a
work, or rather in two works. For perhaps the
history of literature and of art should each be
treated separately; and of these, if I were to
make my choice, I should prefer the latter. An

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 351

excursion to Italy, or rather a residence there
for some time, would be an indispensable pre-
paratory measure ; but this I must leave to
younger men, and console myself in the hope of
having shown that, in the literature and the fine
arts of Italy, may be found a rich and unexplored
mine, in which the intellectual exertions of my
countrymen may be certain of meeting with an
ample reward."

CHAPTER IX.

1806-7.

Requisition to Mr. Roscoe to become a candidate for the
representation of Liverpool — commencement of the
election — state of parties — his return — celebration of
his election — his speech on that occasion — leaves Liver-
pool to attend his parliamentary duties — his feelings on
his change of situation — letters to Mr. Rathbone and
to the Rev. W. Shepherd. — Mrs. Roscoe joins him in
London — letter from her. — Debate on the Slave Trade,
and Mr. Roscoe' s speech. — Letter to Mr. Shepherd. —
Speech on Sir S. Romillifs Bill for subjecting Real
Estates to simple Contract Debts. — Dissolution of the
Ministry. — His speech on Mr. Littleton's motion. —
Speech on Mr. WJiitbread's Bill for the Education of
the Poor. — Parliamentary patronage. — He assists in
founding the African Institution — his speech on that
occasion — termination of his parliamentary career —
riot on his return to Liverpool — declines to come
forward again as a candidate — his address — address
to him. — Letter from Dr. Parr. — He is nominated
without his concurrence — his address on the conclusion
of the election — address to the freemen. — Letter to Dr.
Smith, and answer. — Refuses the appointment of Deputy
Lieutenant.

VOL. I. A A

355

CHAPTER IX.

ALTHOUGH from a very early period of life Mr.
Roscoe had taken a deep interest in public
affairs, and had manifested, not only by his writ-
ings, but also by the part he had taken in pro-
moting public meetings in Liverpool, the strong
desire he felt to render himself useful to the
country, he had yet never entertained the idea
that he should be called upon to fill the respon-
sible situation of a representative of the people.
It was therefore with the greatest surprise that,
on the eve of the general election in 1806, he
received a requisition from a number of the
most respectable burgesses of Liverpool, request-
ing him to come forward as a candidate for the
representation of his native town. In the selec-
tion of a person to oppose the individuals who
had long represented the borough, the friends of
Mr. Roscoe were actuated by many consider-
ations. His well known attachment to liberal
principles ; his long connection with the town ;
his acquaintance with business ; his celebrity as
a writer ; and the universal respect with which
A A 2

356 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

his personal character was regarded, were power-
ful recommendations in his favour ; while the
warm attachment of his numerous private friends
added zeal to the efforts of those who supported
him merely on public grounds. On the 30th of
October, only two days before the commence-
ment of the election, Mr. Roscoe received the
requisition ; on the following day he issued his
address to the electors, and on the 1st of No-
vember the election commenced. The contest
was a severe one. Of the former members,
who again came forward as candidates, General
Gascoigne had represented the borough for ten,
and General Tarleton for sixteen years. The
former was a zealous supporter of Mr. Pitt's ad-
ministration ; and had recommended himself to
the corporation and to the merchants by his
active attention to their interests. General Tar-
leton, after a long alliance with the Whigs, had
joined the party of their adversaries; and though
he had thus forfeited the support of many of his
former partisans, he was still surrounded by a
considerable body of personal friends. The party
of General Gascoigne, which included the Cor-
poration of Liverpool, finding the opposition on
the part of Mr. Roscoe likely to become formi-
dable, effected a junction with the friends of
General Tarleton ; in the hope that, by splitting
the votes of their mutual supporters, they should
be enabled to exclude the new candidate. The

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 357

friends of Mr. Roscoe, considerable in point
of numbers, and distinguished by their respect-
ability, wealth, and intelligence, comprised not
only the Whigs, but persons of every shade of
opinion attached to liberal principles. Though
the ardent zeal with which they engaged in the
contest seemed to promise ultimate success, yet
for several days the system of splitting votes
kept the other candidates at the head of the poll.
It was not until the fifth day of the election, that
Mr. Roscoe obtained a majority even on the day's
poll j but on that day it became obvious that
the strength of his adversaries was exhausted ;
and on the seventh day the contest terminated,
leaving Mr. Roscoe at the head of the poll, with
a majority of nearly two hundred votes over
General Tarleton, and of thirteen over General
Gascoigne. When the number of single votes
given for the respective candidates was ex-
amined, it was found that General Gascoigne had
received 289 ; General Tarleton, 292 ; and Mr.
Roscoe, 867.

Throughout the whole of the election Mr.
Roscoe had been the popular candidate ; the
number of his supporters in the town quad-
rupling those of either of his antagonists. * His

* In the preface to " An Account of the Election," pub-
lished by a supporter of one of Mr. Roscoe's adversaries, it
is said, — " At this period the popular cry was completely in

A A 3

358 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

return, therefore, was hailed with the most en-
thusiastic rejoicings ; and he was chaired through
a greater assemblage of people than the town
had probably ever before witnessed.

The return of Mr. Roscoe was celebrated on
the 25th of November, by a large and respectable
meeting of his friends, when he took the oppor-
tunity of declaring, more at large than he had
hitherto done, the principles by which his public
conduct would be guided. After adverting to
the situation of the Continent, and expressing
his hope that the course of events might lead
to the accomplishment of that most desirable
object, an honourable and lasting peace, and
after pointing out the necessity of retrenchment,
he entered upon the two great questions, of the
African Slave Trade and of Parliamentary Re-
form. To speak of the former in an assembly
where some were present who were still engaged
in the traffic was a task of considerable difficulty ;
but Mr. Roscoe did not hesitate to avow, in the
most distinct manner, his adherence to the opi-
nions which he had so long held on the subject.
He contended, indeed, as the justice of the case
obviously required, that as the trade had been
sanctioned by parliament, and long continued

favour of Mr. Roscoe ; and to walk the streets quietly in an
evening, it was necessary to re-echo his name to the innu-
merable persons who saluted you with it."

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 359

under the authority of the government, the
persons engaged in it were entitled to a full
compensation for the losses they might sustain ;
but he pointed out the propriety of looking to
other branches of commerce, and particularly
to the East India trade, for an equivalent. On
the question of parliamentary reform he thus
expressed himself: —

" The other subject, on which I wish to say
a few words, is one of considerable moment;
it is that which is usually called a Reform in
Parliament. But before I proceed, it may be
necessary to enquire, what is meant by a reform
in parliament? If by a reform in parliament
be meant any alteration in the established con-
stitution of this country, as it has long existed
in its three estates of king, lords, and commons,
then I declare I am totally averse to any reform
in parliament. I consider the king as the key-
stone of the arch of the constitution, and that
if he were taken away, the whole must inevitably
fall into ruins. I consider the nobility as a
body of hereditary counsellors, adding dignity
to the crown, and forming a powerful and useful
barrier, on many occasions, between the crown
and the people. I esteem the House of Com-
mons, properly purified and constructed, as the
legitimate organ of the public voice ; and, there-
fore, if any innovation be attempted upon any
one of these, to that you will always find me a
A A 4

360 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

decided enemy. But if by a reform in par-
liament be meant the purifying of the House of
Commons from all kinds of bribery and cor-
ruption, whether that of electors, or of those
who sit in that House, then I am a friend to
reform in parliament. If it should be proposed
that the elective franchise should be granted to
great towns, and extensive bodies of men who
do not at present enjoy them, then I am a friend
to a reform in parliament. If it should appear
that insignificant and corrupt boroughs have
from time to time tainted the dignity of the
house, and it should be thought proper to de-
prive them of the right of election, then I shah1
be found an advocate for a reform in parlia-
ment."'

The principles of reform, professed upon this
occasion by Mr. Roscoe, and in a few years
afterwards more fully developed in a letter ad-
dressed to the present Lord Chancellor, are in
effect the same which have since formed the
basis of the great scheme so happily accom-
plished under the auspices of Lord Grey.

Parliament having assembled early in the year
1807, Mr. Roscoe, unattended by any of his
family, left Liverpool for the metropolis. Upon
his entrance into public life he had many diffi-
culties to contend with. He was called away
from the active management of a very extensive
mercantile concern, upon the prosperity of which

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 36l

he was entirely dependent, and, unfortunately,
soon after his election, his partner Mr. Leyland,
whose name stood at the head of the firm, and
whose wealth contributed to its stability, with-
drew suddenly from the partnership. These
circum stances, together with his separation from
Mrs. Roscoe and his family, made his removal
from Liverpool a source of much anxiety and
disquiet to him. In addition to this, he felt no
inconsiderable difficulty in adapting himself to
the new mode of life which his public duties
required. He had gone into parliament at a
more advanced age than is usual, and with the
weight of much public and private business of
importance pressing upon him. The novelty of
his situation became, in some degree, painful to
him. He was conscious, also, that much was
expected from him, which naturally increased
his anxiety. His change of life was far, there-
fore, from contributing to his happiness. In a
confidential letter to his friend Mr. Rathbone,
written soon after taking his seat, he thus ex-
pressed the feelings under which he laboured : —
" The rest of your letter, my dear friend,
rather oppresses than cheers me, in my present
difficult and laborious situation. If my friends
have formed such high notions of the extraor-
dinary effects which I am to produce in my
public character, I fear they will only meet with
disappointment, and that I must reconcile my-

362 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

self to that failure with which I am so strongly
threatened. Excepting on the first night on
which I entered the House, there has been
no debate on a popular subject; and though
I had some intention of speaking, yet, upon the
whole, I believe it was better on many accounts
that I declined it. I find great caution necessary
on my first outset ; and my present resolution is
not to engage in any hasty or precipitate mea-
sures, nor to commit myself in any way where I
cannot maintain my ground. For this reason
you must expect at present to hear but little of
me in public ; but if on that account you think
that I am insensible to the great objects of your
letter, you will not do justice either to my inten-
tions or my feelings."

In reply to a letter from one of the most
valued of his friends, the Rev. W. Shepherd,
making some suggestions with regard to his new
course of life, Mr. Roscoe says, " As to the rest
of your cautions, they point not out the rocks on
which I am likely to split. Deeper thoughts
oppress and agitate me. I ruminate much, and
do nothing ; yet I keep some objects in view, of
which I may say with Milton, ' The accomplish-
ment of them lies not but in a power above
man's to perform ; but that none hath by more
studious ways endeavoured, and with more un-
wearied spirit that none shah1, that I dare almost
aver of myself, as far as life and free leisure will

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 3Q3

extend/ I shall only add in the words of the
same great man, ' De caetero quidem, quid de me
statuerit Deus, nescio.' Believe me, however,
always most affectionately yours.**

In another letter, written soon afterwards to
the same correspondent, he says, " You cannot
readily conceive the difficulties that are to be got
over in the House of Commons, particularly in
some minds, before a person can acquire the
habit of expressing his sentiments in a way to do
either himself or his cause any credit. I cer-
tainly, however, do not despair of attaining it,
though, from the state of my health, and a con-
sequent depression of spirits, I have hitherto been
deterred almost wholly from the attempt.'*

In the month of February, 1807, he was joined
in London by Mrs. Roscoe ; and her society,
upon which he always set the highest value, con-
tributed much to the ease of his mind and the
restoration of his health. " You will, I am sure,
all rejoice with me,** he says in a letter to Mr.
Rathbone, " that last night my wife and Edward
arrived safe in London. It was once my wish to
have gone through the troublesome task which I
have undertaken alone, without deranging my
domestic connections ; but to pass five or six
months in banishment from my family and dearest
connections I find is too bold an attempt.*' As
he became more familiar with the proceedings of
parliament his confidence revived, and the feel-

364" LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

ings which had oppressed him at his entrance
gradually subsided. " By a constant attendance
on the House," he says, in a letter to the same
friend, " I find myself more accustomed to its
forms, and have made some good acquaintance.
In a little time, when the election committees
are over, its duties will be less laborious, and I
shall begin to feel myself more at ease in my new
station. I have spoken three or four times, which
is, I believe, as often as any new member, but
still find a reluctance to offer myself to the House.
If the Catholic question be discussed, I shall,
however, most probably attempt a bolder flight ;
but this will depend on circumstances. My
wife's presence has contributed to restore both
my health and peace of mind, which, I believe,
had suffered before her arrival."

The favourable effect which a restoration to his
usual domestic society produced upon the health
of Mr. Roscoe, appears from the following extract
of a letter addressed by Mrs. Roscoe to Mrs. Moss,
her warmly attached sister, and the invaluable
friend of Mr. Roscoe and his family : —

" I well know that Mr. Roscoe's health and
welfare are always an object of great solicitude
to you. He is now nearly well of the nervous
complaint which had assailed him from over-
exertion and want of exercise, and his spirits are
very good, Edward will have informed you that
he conducted us to our lodgings an hour before

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 365

he quitted London. The situation is within five
minutes' walk of the House, and close to St.
James's Park. This morning, being frosty, Mr.
Roscoe rose from the breakfast-table and walked
in the Park near an hour before he sat down to his
writing. I yesterday returned the visit of a very
intelligent woman, and had a most agreeable
interview with her — Mrs. Erskine, wife to the
Lord Advocate of Scotland. They were both at
home to us. We called on, and saw, our ex-
cellent neighbour Miss Ashton too, whom I hope
to see again soon. In the evening Mr. Roscoe
went to dine with the Duke of Gloucester, where
were present the Lord Chancellor, the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, Lord Sidmouth, and a number
more of the veiy great. The Duke pays Mr.
Roscoe the most respectful attentions. Edward
would tell you of his paying me a visit the morn-
ing after he knew I was in town. You know very
well how I estimate all these things in them-
selves ; but I never can be insensible to any mark
of sensibility to Mr. Roscoe's uncommon merits,
and which his own extreme humility keeps him
wholly unconscious of."

As the period approached when the great
subject was to be discussed in which, from his
earliest youth, Mr. Roscoe had taken so deep an
interest, his anxieties became great, lest he should
not do justice to the cause which he had so
much at heart. Mr. Rathbone having addressed

366 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

to him a letter on the subject, containing many
just and valuable reflections, he replied as fol-
lows : —

" I have received your excellent oration on
the African slave trade, which, if delivered by
yourself, would have the intended effect on the
House. If I speak on the subject, which, un-
less I am disabled by personal indisposition, it is
my resolution to do, I shall probably adopt
somewhat of a different line of argument, touch-
ing, however, though not so largely, on several
of the topics in your sketch. If I should be
able to get out all I have to say, it would per-
haps be longer than yours, though I have not
committed a word of it to writing. In this
situation I cannot describe the anxiety I feel, lest
I should be a weak and unworthy advocate of
the great cause which I have espoused."

The following report of the speech of Mr.
Roscoe on this occasion, fuller than that given
in the Parliamentary Debates, was corrected by
himself immediately after its delivery : —

" As the colleague of the honourable gentle-
man who spoke last, and as one of the repre-
sentatives of a place where the trade, which it
is the object of the present bill to abolish, has
been carried on to a greater extent than in any
other place in the kingdom, I cannot, I con-
ceive, with propriety, give a silent vote on this
occasion. That vote, Sir, will be in favour of

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 367

the bill now before the House for the abolition
of that trade. In giving this vote I shall at
least satisfy my own feelings and my own con-
science. But I trust, Sir, that I shall at the same
time perform my duty to my constituents. For
whatever may be thought of the people of Liver-
pool in other parts of the kingdom, I must beg
leave to inform this House that they are by no
means unanimous in support of the trade in
question. On the contrary, a great and re-
spectable body of the inhabitants of Liverpool
are as adverse to the slave trade as any other
persons in these realms, and I should greatly
disappoint their expectations and their wishes, if
I were not to vote for the abolition of that trade.
After the length of time during which this
subject has been considered by the nation at
large, after the frequent discussions it has under-
gone in this House, after the present bill has
been passed by the Upper House of Parliament,
and is now sent to this House for its concur-
rence, above all, after the full and able manner
in which the noble Lord (Howick), who intro-
duced the bill, has brought it forward, it is
perfectly unnecessary for me to discuss the prin-
ciple of the bill, or to detain the House by
additional arguments in its favour. There is,
however, one argument which has always ap-
peared to me so clear, so conclusive, and so
short, that I will venture to state it. Sir, the

368 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

African slave trade has always subsisted only by
an abuse. If we place the human race in any
fair and reasonable situation, if we provide
them with the necessaries and accommodations
of life, they must, by the very law of their
nature, inevitably increase. It is only, then,
because the slaves in our West India islands are
not in that proper situation, and are not pro-
vided with the proper necessaries of life, that a
diminution of number continually occurs, and
the slave trade becomes necessary to supply that
deficiency. Now, Sir, the bill before the House
will not only prevent the further prosecution of
the trade to Africa, but will also effect another
great and beneficial purpose, not contemplated
on the face of the bill, — it will immediately im-
prove and meliorate the condition of the slaves
in the West Indies. For as soon as the planter
shall be convinced that he cannot make up the
deficiency of his slaves by purchase, as soon as
he can no longer act upon the horrid maxim,
* that it is better to buy a slave than to breed
one,' he will then be called upon, by a sense of
his own interest, to pay that attention to the com-
fort and accommodation of his slaves which is
so essentially necessary for their increase and
their happiness. Whatever apprehensions may be
entertained as to the security and welfare of our
West India possessions from the present measure,
I hesitate not to assert that, in my opinion, it

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 369

will, in the result, be found to be the first
cause of the security and prosperity of those
colonies. I well remember the time when the
regulations made by this House on the middle
passage were opposed by the merchants with
the greatest warmth, as wholly destructive to
their trade ; but it is only a few days since that
we heard their counsel at the bar of this House
admit, that such regulations had rendered the
trade much more advantageous than it had ever
before been.

" In like manner, I trust that the time will ere
long arrive when the West India planters will
feel and acknowledge the beneficial effect, and
will date the true prosperity of the British
colonies from the time of the abolition of the
slave trade. In discussing a question of this
magnitude, affecting so great a portion of the
human race, it is impossible to close our eyes to
that part of the world which has suffered so
greatly by the effects of the trade in question — I
mean the coast of Africa. I should be sorry to
accuse this country as being the sole cause of
the state of ignorance and degradation in which
that immense continent yet remains ; but I must
be allowed to say, that if we have not been the
cause of the evil, we have at least contributed in
a high degree to prevent its removal.

" When we consider the nature of the trade
which we have carried on with that continent,

VOL. I. B 15

370 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

when we reflect that the objects of our commerce
have been our fellow-creatures ; and that the
articles we have furnished in return have been
chiefly fire-arms, ammunition, and brandy, articles
of destruction, articles of debauchery, I cannot
but fear that we have contributed in a great
degree to prevent that civilisation and improve-
ment in Africa which might otherwise have
taken place. That this supposition is too well
founded may be fairly inferred from the well-
known fact, that the interior of Africa is more
civilised and better cultivated than the coast,
where our trade has been carried on, and where
we have kept up that continual excitement so
prejudicial to that unfortunate country. It is
time that we should remove that excitement ;
and if we cannot contribute to the improvement
of Africa, that we should not at least contri-
bute any longer to her calamities and her de-
gradation.

" But, Sir, although I think it unnecessary to
enter into a further discussion of the principle of
the bill, yet I have been well aware, that with
respect to its mode of operation, or rather with
respect to the time when such operation is to
commence, some difference of opinion may be
entertained. However anxious I have always
been for the abolition of this traffic, it has been
my uniform opinion that this should be effected
by gradual and proper measures.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 371

" And here I beg it may be most explicitly un-
derstood that, in speaking of gradual measures, it
was never my idea that the trade should be con-
tinued for the advantage of those persons who
are carrying it on. No, Sir, I would not con-
tinue the trade a month, a week, a day, on any
such grounds.

"It was well observed on a former night in
this House, that justice is due to all persons, as
well to our own countrymen as to the natives of
Africa. I fully assent to this observation. But
in the distribution of justice we must cautiously
distinguish between the rights of the claimants.
It would be the height of injustice to balance
the mere pecuniary interests of any one body of
men against the lives, the liberty, and the safety
of any other body of men. They are claims of
a different nature, and cannot be weighed with
each other. That justice is due to the per-
sons in this country who may be affected by the
bill I readily admit; but it is due from this
nation, and not from Africa, which has already
suffered sufficiently from us.

" Leaving, therefore, these claims out of the
question at present, and regarding only the
object of this bill, I must observe, that in a great
measure, of this nature particularly, caution is
necessary, that in producing a certain good we
produce as little evil as possible.

" Sir, we must perceive how difficult it is
B B 2

372 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

to legislate for those who are no parties to our
deliberations.

" I certainly am not without apprehensions
that if this trade had been terminated by a sud-
den and immediate act, it might have been
productive of dreadful consequences on the coast
of Africa, where there is a great conflux of
slaves, whose numbers might accumulate, and
who, from the sudden and total cessation of the
trade, might fall a sacrifice to the avarice or re-
sentment ot their owners. Before I left Liverpool,
to have the honour of taking my place in this
House, I thought it necessary to make a particu-
lar inquiry on this subject from a person well
conversant with, and who had frequently visited
different parts of the coast. From him I learnt,
that at Angola, and other places on the southern
parts of the coast, slaves were brought down in
scanty numbers, and, consequently, little danger
was to be apprehended from the immediate
termination of the trade ; but that on the more
northern parts, and particularly at Bonny, the
slaves are brought down in great numbers, being
carried from the interior parts of the country
for four, five, or six months, and that there some
fatal consequences might ensue if precautions
were not taken against them. It was, however,
his opinion, that a period of six, or at most nine
months, would be a sufficient notice for ter-
minating the trade ; and as this space of time

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 373

will be afforded by the present bill, I shall
cheerfully assent to it as it now stands, and do
conceive that as the trade has been gradually
narrowed by the regulations adopted by this
House, and as some further time is yet allowed
by the bill for its final termination, the friends of
a gradual abolition ought now to unite with the
promoters of the present bill, in carrying this
great and beneficent measure into full effect.

" And now, Sir, as to the question of com-
pensation to those persons who may be injured
by the effects of the present measure, I cannot
entertain a doubt that this House will be earnest
to distribute justice in its proper degree to all
who are entitled to it. The trade in question
has been long carried on with the concurrence
of the country, and under the sanction of the
legislature, and has, till the present time, been
thought indispensably necessary to the cultiva-
tion and possession of our colonial possessions.
If, then, it should hereafter appear, that the
persons engaged in carrying it on should sus-
tain an actual loss by the operation of this bill,
— not a loss of eventual or prospective profits,
which they might have derived from continuing
to carry on the trade (for to such a claim it
would be absurd to listen), but a real and sub-
stantial loss, by not being able to withdraw their
capital, and to close their concerns within the
time limited by the bill, — then I must assert,
B B 3

374 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

that the persons making such claims are as well
entitled to compensation as any persons who
ever solicited the justice of this House. But,
Sir, there is another compensation of a much
higher and better nature to which the mer-
chants of this country are entitled. That com-
pensation is to be found in the more extended
trade and commerce of this country. When we
consider the immense revenue which we are
now called upon to pay, it is evident that the
time is arrived when we must avail ourselves of
all our resources ; when we look at the immense
power acquired by the great tyrant of the Con-
tinent, we must perceive, that it is necessary
to oppose to him an immense colonial power,
whereby we may maintain and enlarge the mari-
time strength of our country. Under such cir-
cumstances, we ought to extend ourselves to the
East and to the West.

" It can be no longer concealed, that the
question respecting the East Indies is now so
closely connected with the safety and prosperity
of this country, that they can scarcely be separ-
ately considered; nor can it be supposed that
we can any longer allow ourselves to be crip-
pled in this essential branch of our commerce.
Let there be no monopoly but the monopoly of
the country at large.

*' Sir, I have long resided in the town of Li-
verpool. It is now upwards of thirty years since

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

I first raised my voice in public against the
traffic which it is the object of the present bill
to abolish. From that time I have never con-
cealed my sentiments upon it, in public or in
private ; and I shall always think it the greatest
happiness of my life, that I have had the honour
to be present on this occasion, and to concur
with those true friends of justice, of humanity,
and, as I most firmly believe, of sound policy,
who have brought forward the present measure."

Of his feelings on this occasion, which he
justly regarded as the most important passage in
his whole life, he has given some account in a
letter, written immediately afterwards, to his
friend Mr. Shepherd.

" You will, I am sure, rejoice with me most
truly, on the triumphant manner in which the
question on the slave trade has been carried
through both Houses of Parliament ; and you
will also feel an additional gratification, that I
have had an opportunity of speaking my senti-
ments publicly on the subject.

" It required, I assure you, no small share of
resolution to seize the proper moment to obtrude
myself on the House, and to persevere against
several competitors, all of them eager to distin-
guish themselves on the occasion. Mr. Fawkes,
member for Yorkshire, and I, were equally un-
willing to give way, till the Speaker restored
order, and decided in my favour. What I had

B B 4

376 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

to say, was well premeditated, but had not been
written. I delivered it with tolerable clearness,
and, I believe, without embarrassment, but not
with sufficient energy. I should tell you, that
before the debate began, the Speaker called to
me, as I was passing near him, and gave me, in
very kind terms, the same advice which you had
done ; viz. to take my station at about two thirds
of the House distant from him, that, in addressing
him, I might be well heard. This I complied
with, and found efficient. I have reason to think
that, upon the whole, my speech gave satisfac-
tion, as both Mr. Wilberforce and Mr. Whitbread
expressed themselves in particular terms to me
to that effect. But what pleases me more is the
idea, that by speaking so soon in the debate, and
standing in the capacity of member for Liver-
pool, I may have contributed in some degree
to that decision of sentiment which the House
manifested in the result. My friend, Richard
Sharp, who sat by me, says my vote was worth
twenty. But it will be enough for me, if I can
persuade myself that I have contributed in any
degree to the success of such a cause.

" I afterwards, with the assistance of my son
Edward, committed my speech to paper, which
he took down with him, and which you have
perhaps seen. I have since recollected some
omissions, but it will give you a sufficient idea
of it.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 377

" We had a long debate on the same subject
on Friday, and shall have another on Wednesday
next. Wyndham has avowed his determination
to oppose the measure ; Lord Howick, and it
is said Sheridan, will defend it. There are so
many persons who have not yet spoken, that I
shall not attempt it again, unless I feel myself
called on to explain.

" On the whole, I find the attendance on
the House of Commons, particularly whilst the
election committees are sitting, a very ar-
duous service. There are great difficulties to
be surmounted, and it requires a degree of
courage and of caution, not often united, to
secure the favourable judgment of the House.
Although I have spoken twice, my anxiety on
this head is very little relieved, and I have
reason to suspect that I partake this anxiety
in common with many of those who have been
much more accustomed to the House. I mean,
however, to attempt it again when a proper
opportunity occurs, being resolved that if there
be any talent, it shall not, in times like the
present, be buried in a napkin."

To the vote given by him on this occasion
he often referred, in his after-life, with expres-
sions of the warmest satisfaction. In a letter
written in 1812 to his friend Walter Fawkes,
Esq., he says, — " I am gratified to find that the
few but interesting conferences we had together

378 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

in St. Stephen's are yet held in your remem-
brance. Tiresome as our sittings frequently
were, we had our seasons of triumph and con-
gratulation,— and the evening when we rejoiced
together on the abolition of the slave trade will
never be forgotten by me."

There was no member of the House for whose
talents and virtues Mr. Roscoe entertained a
more sincere regard than for those of Sir Samuel
Romilly ; and when that distinguished and
enlightened statesman brought forward in Par-
liament his bill for subjecting real estates to
simple contract debts, the measure received the
warm support of Mr. Roscoe. The following
outline of his speech on this occasion is now
given from a note of it, in his own hand, and may
serve as an example of the style which he adopted
in public speaking : —

" I must beg leave, Sir, wholly to dissent from
the opinion of the honourable member on the
other side of the House (Colonel Eyre), and am,
on the contrary, of opinion that the country is
highly indebted to the honourable and learned
member who introduced the bill, for proposing a
measure of such manifest utility. Sir, it is to
me matter of surprise that in a country like this,
where there is such a continual and daily inter-
change between real and personal property, this
measure should not have been sooner adopted.
With respect to the objections which have been.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 379

urged against the bill, as well on this as on a
former night, I cannot allow to them any degree
of validity. By some we are told that it will
make a most dangerous inroad on the laws of our
ancestors, and be an innovation on the consti-
tution, as if laws were not to change with the
changes and circumstances of the times to which
they are applied. By others we are informed
that it will be the downfall of the aristocracy, as
if the aristocracy could only subsist by the non-
payment of their debts. Next we are informed
that a law of this nature will throw the landed
estates of the country into the hands of East
Indian nabobs, and that it will even interfere
with the elective franchise. Really, Sir, I can
perceive nothing in the measure under con-
sideration which can have the least tendency to
produce any such effects. This bill, when passed
into a law, will do nothing more than is done in
this country every day. It will subject freehold
estates to the payment of simple contract debts,
a duty which is already performed by every honest
man on making his will ; yet what inconvenience
has ever been derived from it? What injury
to the constitution ? Who ever discovered its
injurious effects? Is it not, on the contrary,
highly desirable that an honest creditor should
be paid his just demands ? In all cases of this
kind, where the testator charges his estate with
the payment of his debts, this bill will make no

380 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

difference whatever. Its provisions will only be
concurrent with the will of the testator ; and
whether the creditor recovers his debt under the
will, or by the operation of this act, is to him a
matter of little importance.

" It is only, then, in cases where a person
possessed of freehold estates dies without sub-
jecting them to the payment of his debts that
this bill will apply. Now, Sir, such cases can
only occur from two causes. First, where
a person, knowing himself to be indebted, wil-
fully and purposely avoids making a provision
for the payment of his debts. This, Sir,
I cannot but consider as a crime of the high-
est magnitude. The perpetrator of it avails
himself of the law to defraud his just creditor.
And what is the moment of the completion
of his crime ? That awful moment when he quits
this state of being, to appear in the immediate
presence of his Creator ? Surely, Sir, a law to
prevent so heinous a crime cannot be too soon
passed through this House.

" The second case, Sir, is, when a person, in-
tending to make a will and to do justice to his
creditors, is snatched away without having an
opportunity of carrying his intentions into effect.
Perhaps in the midst of health he has post-
poned this important duty. Perhaps he feels
that reluctance, common to some minds to per-
form what he considers as a last act. Perhaps he

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 381

perishes by some unforeseen accident, and leaves
his estates to be inherited by some distant relation,
who seizes upon them, and by refusing to pay
the debts of his predecessor, leaves a stigma upon
his name, which, if he had supposed that such a
circumstance could have taken place, would have
been regarded as the greatest calamity that could
have befallen him.

" If, however, Sir, there be any gentleman in
this House, whose moral taste is so peculiarly
formed, as to be gratified with the injustice of the
present system, there will still remain sufficient
to satisfy him. In the first place, there is the
whole class of estates for life, by which a person
is enabled to live in high rank and great splen-
dour, so as to obtain considerable credit among
his tradesmen, yet at his death his estate passes
to the person in remainder, wholly discharged
from his debts. There will also still remain all
the estates entailed in strict settlement, in which
the present possessor either cannot, or will not,
defeat the entail, and which pass to the person
next in remainder, without being subject to the
debts of his predecessor. Neither of these classes
will be at all affected by the present bill.

" Nor are the copyhold estates of the country
within its operation ; and, indeed, I conceive this
to have been the strongest objection which was,
on a former night, raised against this bill by an
honourable and learned member high in the law

382 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

department. But although I could have wished
to have seen copyhold estates included, yet I am
satisfied with the reasons alleged, in this respect,
by the honourable and learned member who in-
troduced the present bill ; hoping that on some
future occasion its principle will be extended also
to copyhold and customary estates.

" Nor am I deterred from expressing this hope
by any apprehension that in these wise, and just,
and necessary regulations, we are encroaching on
the institutions of our ancestors, or making al-
terations in the established law of the land.

" Sir, it is the very end and object of our
meeting to make such regulations as may from
time to time be found necessary, and to vary the
law, according to the circumstances of the times
and the different situations in which the country
is placed. In our present situation the measure
now proposed is highly necessary and advisable,
and I shall therefore give the bill before the
House my most hearty assent.*'

The circumstances under which the ministers
were deprived of office in the spring of 1807
will not be easily forgotten. In accordance
with the principles which they had always pro-
fessed, and which they were known by the King
to entertain, when he submitted to their ap-
pointment, they deemed it their duty to bring
before parliament a question connected with
the Roman Catholic claims. A measure so

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 383

obnoxious to the prejudices of the King was re-
ceived by him, not only with decided disappro-
bation, but with a command that his ministers
should give a pledge that they would never in
future attempt to bring forward the question.
To this command, so unconstitutional in its
tendency, they refused to submit, and the admi-
nistration was immediately dissolved. Frequent
and angry debates ensued in the House of
Commons ; in the course of which the late Mr.
Canning threatened the House with a dissolution
in the event of a majority against the new mi-
nistry. On the 15th of April, the Hon. W. H.
Littleton moved a resolution, declaring the
regret of the House at the late change in his
Majesty's councils, which afforded Mr. Roscoe
an opportunity of expressing his sentiments both
upon the question which had given rise to the
change, and upon the manner in which that
change had been effected. In the course of
his speech, he adverted particularly to the con-
duct of Mr. Canning. " Another striking proof
of the disregard paid by the present ministry
to the constitution of the country, and to the
privileges of this House, may appear in the con-
duct of the right hon. member, to whom I have
before alluded, as filling the office of one of his
Majest/s principal secretaries of state, and who,
towards the close of the debate to which I have
before referred, thought proper to threaten this

384 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

House, that if its members did not vote according
to the will of the ministry, his Majesty would
be advised to appeal to the people, or, in other
words, to dissolve his parliament. Sir, I deeply
regret, and shall regret to the close of my life,
that not a member was found in this House to
rise in his place and call upon you, Sir, to inter-
pose your authority, and to stay the proceedings
of the House, till it had expressed its resentment
at the indignity which was thus offered to it."
In recurring to this subject, as he occasionally
did in his after-life, it was always with the
strongest expressions of regret that he had not,
on the instant, made an attempt to rouse the
House to a sense of its privileges, when thus
openly threatened by a minister of the crown.

In the course of this speech, he took an op-
portunity of stating, in a pointed manner, the
cruelty of inflicting penalties and disabilities on
those who, notwithstanding the injustice to
which they were subjected, did not hesitate to
range themselves in the ranks of our armies.

" Sir, I remember that when it was urged
that the bill, to which I have alluded, would
induce the Roman Catholics to enter into our
armies and navies, that right honourable and
learned gentleman observed, that, in this respect,
the bill was useless ; for that in spite of the Test
Laws the Roman Catholics did enter into our
armies and our navies ; and that, therefore, we

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 385

might as well avail ourselves of their services,
and still retain the test laws to be used or not
as might be found necessary. What, Sir ! shall
we then distrust those men who offer themselves
to shed their blood in our defence, and to die
by our sides ? And what is this privilege which
we are so desirous to retain ? And what is the
use which, under such circumstances, we could
possibly make of it ? Why, Sir, it is the pri-
vilege of saying to our Roman Catholic fellow-
subjects, when they return from their service,
You have been fighting the battles of your
king and country ; and therefore the law has
determined that you for ever be rendered in-
capable of suing either at law or equity ; in
short, you shall be put out of the protection of
the law, and every one who pleases may plunder
you with impunity. It is the privilege of say-
ing, You have been faithful to your trust, and
therefore the law has determined that you shall
be disqualified from being an executor or ad-
ministrator, or the guardian of the child of
your nearest relation. It is the privilege of say-
ing, You have devoted yourself to a military
life, and have returned home in poverty but
with honour, and therefore the law has deter-
mined that you shall pay a penalty of five hun-
dred pounds. I am ashamed that it should be
necessary at this day to answer such ungenerous
arguments."

VOL. i. c c

386 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

The last occasion on which Mr. Roscoe ad-
dressed the House of Commons was upon Mr.
Whitbread's bill for establishing a plan for the
education of the poor ; the object of which was
to provide a school, at which the children of
the poor might be instructed, in every parish.
This was the first of a series of measures which
the enlightened statesman, from whom it ema-
nated, had it in contemplation to propose, with
the view of rescuing the poorer classes of the
community from that state of degradation to
which the operation of various causes, and more
especially the weight of taxation, have reduced
them. The basis of all improvement Mr. Whit-
bread justly regarded as consisting in that intel-
ligence and knowledge of their real interests
which education can alone confer, and in this
view of the question he was warmly supported
by Mr. Roscoe.

In the course of his short parliamentary life,
Mr. Roscoe, as a friend of ministers, had con-
siderable experience in that system of patronage
which was thought necessary to keep the ma-
chine of government in motion. Innumerable
applications were made to him, both by those
who had claims upon him, and by those who had
nothing to urge but their own desire of prefer-
ment. The rule which he laid down with re-
gard to these applications he thus states in a
confidential letter to one of his friends, whose

LIFE OP WILLIAM ROSCOE. 387

request carried with it every recommendation
which long friendship and sincere esteem could
confer : —

" You are right in supposing that the appli-
cations from Liverpool for places, &c. are very
numerous. I divide them, however, into two
classes, viz. first, such as relate to places al-
ready vacant, for which the applicant brings
good recommendations ; and, secondly, such as
require generally a good place, a tolerable place,
an easy place, a place in the customs, &c. or, in
short, any place that may happen to offer. To
the first of these I think myself bound to pay at-
tention, and have not hesitated, where I thought
the persons proper, to recommend them to his
Majesty's ministers ; but in the latter cases it is
impossible for me to do any thing, as I could
scarcely expect that they would promise me the
reversion of a place not yet vacant, but on which
some provident expectant might have set his eye.

You will therefore see that your friend

comes under this latter class, and that I can be of
no service to him, for it is impossible for me
here to know what places become vacant. If he
will take an opportunity, when such an event
occurs, to furnish me with proper testimonials,
I will do the best I can for him consistently with
the merits and pretensions of other candidates
that may appear ; and this I think is all you
would wish me to say on the subject."
c c 2

388 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

During his residence in London, and before
the dissolution of that parliament of which he
was a member, Mr. Roscoe was much gratified
by being enabled to assist in founding " The
African Institution," a society, the object of
which was the civilisation and improvement of
the natives of Africa. The first meeting, which
was a highly respectable one, was held at the
Freemasons' Hall, and the Duke of Gloucester,
whose zeal on behalf of the enslaved Africans
has reflected the highest credit on his character,
took the chair. Mr. Roscoe, having been re-
quested by Mr. W. Smith and Mr. Robert
Thornton to address the meeting and to propose
its thanks to Mr. Wilberforce, did so in a short
speech ; which he closed by observing, " That
as this was the first public meeting held by the
friends of the abolition after their great measure
had been accomplished, he trusted it would not
be passed over without marking the deep sense
which they entertained of the pre-eminent ser-
vices of him who had laboured so successfully
in their cause. Not that even this approbation,
however grateful it might be, was necessary to
him, — that his reward was not to be found in
the applause of that meeting, — not in the ad-
miration of the whole country, but in the
conscious rectitude of his own conduct, and in
the approbation of his God." On the passing
of the resolution, Mr. Wilberforce rose and ob-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 389

served, that however he might be gratified by
the honour which was done to him, it was ren-
dered much more estimable in his opinion by
the quarter from which it came. That when
he considered that the person who had thus
seconded the motion had resided all his life in
the very midst of a place which had been parti-
cularly distinguished by the share which it had
taken in the African slave trade ; and that, by
his own strength of mind, he had risen above all
the prejudices that surrounded him, and opposed
himself with firmness to so great an abuse ;
when he considered that he had not only done
this, but that he had also obtained the favourable
opinion of his townsmen in so eminent a degree,
as to be returned their representative in par-
liament, in a manner equally honourable to him
and to themselves, he did, indeed, consider this
as a great triumph.

Mr. Roscoe having been appointed one of the
committee, took an active and zealous part in
preparing the laws of the Institution, and in
bringing it into operation. For many years he
continued to manifest an interest in its success,
and corresponded at considerable length with the
Duke of Gloucester on the subject.

Thus terminated Mr. Roscoe's short parli-
amentary career, before he had become well
accustomed even to the forms of the House, or
had acquired that confidence in his own powers

c t 3

390 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

which is so essential to render a man distin-
guished in public life. He had acted the part
of an independent member of parliament, and
though from principle a strenuous supporter
of the government, he never enrolled himself
amongst the followers of the minister. Upon
all questions of importance he formed his own
conclusions, on which he invariably acted with
firmness and decision. His natural turn of mind
rendered any thing like intrigue, or even parti-
sanship, distasteful to him, and he was therefore
probably regarded as a person not altogether
qualified to be admitted into the mysteries of
ministerial arrangements. His station, as one
of the representatives of the second commercial
town in the empire, gave him considerable
weight, which was not lessened by his personal
character ; and had he remained in the House,
it is probable that he would have rendered
himself extensively useful. He had the good
fortune while there to acquire the friendship
of several very excellent and distinguished per-
sons, and amongst others, of Sir Samuel Romilly
and Mr. Whitbread, with whom, after his retire-
ment from parliament, he continued occasion-
ally to correspond.

The inconvenience and anxiety that he had
experienced during the short period of his
public life did not induce him to shun a re-
newal of the same duties. As the dissolution

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 391

of parliament approached, he expressed his re-
solution to his friend Mr. Rathbone in these
terms : — " What line I am to take in this case,
or what will be the wishes of my friends, I shall
not anticipate. All I know and feel is, that I
will not desert them as long as they think I
can render any services, either to them or to the
country. I do not," he added, " augur much
opposition from my conduct on the slave trade,
as my opinions on it were well known ; and I
do not yet think so ill of the world as to suppose
that an adherence to one's own principles can
be made a very substantial cause of reproach."

Unfortunately, in this supposition, Mr. Roscoe
was mistaken. The part taken by him on the
question of the slave trade, and the triumphant
passing of the bill for the abolition of that traffic,
had excited a strong feeling against him amongst
the lower classes in Liverpool. In that town,
as in other parts of the empire, the " No Popery"
cry had been renewed ; and the speech of Mr.
Roscoe in favour of the Catholics was made
use of, in order to excite against him the odium
of the populace. The dismissal of the ministry
also was not without its effects on the minds of
many, while the short period, which had elapsed
since the former contest, might be expected to
create a degree of unwillingness on the part of
his supporters, so soon again to incur the labour
and expense which a contested election in Li-

c c 4>

392 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

verpool has always occasioned. Of these circum-
stances his adversaries eagerly took advantage.
The cry that the trade of the port had been
ruined was raised : every artifice to render him
obnoxious to the electors was resorted to j and
preparations were made to convert the spectacle
of his return into a scene of tumult and blood-
shed.

Mr. Roscoe made his public entry into Liver-
pool in the month of May. A numerous body of
his friends, mounted and on foot, met him at
the outskirts of the town. They had not, how-
ever, proceeded far on their return when it be-
came evident that their progress to Mr. Roscoe's
bank, from the windows of which it was intended
that he should address the people, would be
opposed. Strong parties of seamen, chiefly con-
sisting of the crews of vessels lately engaged in
the African trade, armed with bludgeons and
other weapons, were disposed along the streets
to obstruct the passage of the procession ; and
when it reached Castle Street, the principal
street of the town, a scene of the greatest tu-
mult and riot prevailed. At length the number
and resolution of Mr. Roscoe's friends enabled
them to force a passage through their adver-
saries, but not without many personal injuries
to both parties. The horse on which Mr. Wil-
liams, a magistrate of the county, and a warm
friend of Mr. Roscoe, was mounted, was stabbed

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 393

in the body with a knife; and the most fatal con-
sequences might have ensued, had not great for-
bearance been displayed towards the assailants.
On reaching the bank, Mr. Roscoe attempted
to address the crowds collected beneath the
windows, but the tumult was renewed, and he
was compelled to desist. Fortunately, the day
passed off without further violence.

It now became necessary for Mr. Roscoe to
decide upon the course which, under circum-
stances like these, it was his duty to adopt.
While some of his friends strongly urged him
to disregard the attempt to drive him from the
contest by threats and by violence, to which they
did not doubt their ability to offer a successful
resistance, others expressed the most serious
apprehensions as to the result. The great body
of the electors, it was represented to him, were
still favourably disposed towards him ; and though
it could not be denied that his popularity had,
in some degree, suffered by his vote on the
slave trade, yet his parliamentary conduct had
entitled him to the continued confidence and
exertions of his friends. These topics, though
strongly pressed on the mind of Mr. Roscoe,
failed to produce the effect which those who
urged them desired. He saw, in the exasper-
ation displayed upon his entrance, a determin-
ation to decide the contest by tumult and by
violence j and he did not find it consistent, either

394 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

with his feelings or with his principles, to take
any part in transactions which must, in all pro-
bability, have terminated in bloodshed. At the
same time, it is not improbable that motives of
a different kind, the weight of which he himself
could scarcely estimate, had their influence over
him. After some experience of political life,
he had found it distasteful to him, and he ear-
nestly longed to be relieved from a burden which
he had been unaccustomed to bear, — a burden
rendered still weightier by the reflection that
it interfered with the performance of, those pri-
vate duties, upon which his own happiness and
that of those around him depended. An oppor-
tunity now offered itself of retiring with honour
from a contest, into which his sense of duty,
rather than his inclinations, had led him to
enter ; and it is not surprising that, under such
circumstances, he should have declined to act
upon the advice which many of his friends so
earnestly tendered.

His determination was conveyed to the public
in the following address ; in which he both enters
into an explanation of his parliamentary con-
duct, and details the motives which induced
him to retire from a second contest.

" To the Independent Freemen of Liverpool.

" Gentlemen,

" After the many proofs of attachment and
confidence with which you have honoured me,

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 3Q5

and which will ever be remembered by me with
the warmest gratitude, it is with sincere regret
that I announce to you my determination to
withdraw myself as a candidate at the approach-
ing election.

" Called upon as I was by you on a former
occasion, I laid aside all considerations of private
interest and personal convenience, and cheerfully
obeyed your summons. From that time I have
devoted myself to your service by a diligent per-
formance of my duty in Parliament, and have
uniformly maintained those principles and opi-
nions which first recommended me to your
choice. To the best of my power I have asserted
the cause of justice, of humanity, of toleration,
and of true constitutional British freedom ; and
amidst the changes which I have witnessed around
me, I have certainly remained and now return
unchanged.

" Short as the duration of that parliament has
been, its proceedings will always be recorded, in
the annals of this country, with peculiar honour.
During that period, I have had the satisfaction
of giving my humble but disinterested support
to men who, from their rank, their property, and
their independence, could have no object in view
but to promote the permanent interests and pro-
sperity of the country ; and of adding my public
sanction to measures of the greatest national
benefit and importance. Of these measures,

396 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

some were carried into complete effect, and
others were only frustrated by the premature
dissolution of parliament, which his Majesty's
ministers thought it expedient to advise. A
system of finance was proposed and matured,
which surprised and gratified the country, by
demonstrating, that no new taxes were necessary,
and which regulated the public revenue and ex-
penditure for a long series of years. The great
principles of justice and humanity were asserted
by the abolition of the African slave trade. A
committee was appointed to examine into the
abuses of excessive salaries and peculations in
office, which had discovered frauds in public
functionaries to a considerable amount. A bill
was introduced, which was intended to add to
our national security at this dangerous crisis, by
uniting his Majesty's subjects of all religious
persuasions in the common defence of the coun-
try. To these great measures of public benefit
I must be allowed to add the bills introduced
by an enlightened member of the House of
Commons, for improving the condition, raising
the character, and providing for the education of
those lower classes of the community, on which
the strength and prosperity of a nation so essen-
tially depend, and which, carried into effect,
would ere long have alleviated those enormous
parish rates which have of late increased with
such alarming rapidity. To have had a share in

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 397

these deliberations will ever be remembered by
me as the chief pride of my life.

" No sooner was the dissolution of this parli-
ament known than I announced to you my in-
tention of offering myself again to your choice.
But on my arrival in Liverpool I found that
the same arts of ministerial misrepresentation,
which had been so industriously employed in
other places to mislead the public mind, and had
induced so many persons of independent charac-
ter to relinquish their pretensions to a seat in
parliament, had not been without their effect
there also. To this more general prejudice was
added a particular disapprobation, in some few
individuals, of the part I had taken on the abo-
lition of the slave trade. On these and other
points it was my most earnest desire to have ad-
dressed myself to you. After having been met
on my approach, and accompanied into the town
by such a concourse of the most respectable in-
habitants as was perhaps never before witnessed,
except on the memorable occasion in November
last, I made several attempts to obtain a hear-
ing, and to perform what I consider a sacred and
indispensable duty, by rendering an account of
my conduct to my constituents. But, to the
disgrace of themselves and their employers, per-
sons evidently stationed for the purpose pre-
vented me, by their clamours, from all possibility
of addressing my friends. Prepared for outrage,

398 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

they suddenly attacked the large and respectable
body of freemen by whom I was surrounded.
Without the least restraint from the police
of the town, many of my friends were grossly
insulted, and some of them much wounded.
Persons, whose peculiar province it was to have
repressed such outrages, were observed actively
employed in promoting them. An officer of the
highest reputation and independence of charac-
ter, to whom the town of Liverpool is under
particular obligations, and who had honoured
me by his presence, was insolently attacked, and
his horse stabbed with a knife. Happily for the
peace and character of the town the feelings of
resentment, thus wantonly and arrogantly excited,
were suppressed by the consideration of the
dreadful consequences which must have ensued,
had my friends indulged themselves in that re-
taliation which was decidedly in their power.
The example of firmness and moderation which
they at this moment evinced confers on them
the highest honour.

" Under these circumstances, and wholly hope-
less, in the present situation of public affairs, of
rendering those services to my constituents or to
my country, which could alone justify me in
entering upon a contest, I have finally resolved
not to afford, by my further perseverance, a pre-
text for those excesses, which, from what has
already occurred, there is but too much reason

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 399

to apprehend would be experienced in the course
of the election. What will be the character of a
parliament chosen under such auspices I shall
not pretend to determine ; but if the represent-
ation of Liverpool can only be obtained by vio-
lence and bloodshed, I leave the honour of it to
those who choose to contend for it, nor will I
accept even that distinction, accompanied by
reflections which must embitter every future
moment of my life.

" I have the honour to be,
" With the greatest gratitude and respect,

" Gentlemen,

" Your most obliged and most faithful Servant,
(Signed) " WILLIAM ROSCOE.

" Allerton Hall, May 5. 1807."

On the appearance of this address, a numerous
meeting of Mr. Roscoe's friends was held, and
the following letter was transmitted to him, ex-
pressive of their feelings on the occasion : —

" Sir,

" It is with heartfelt concern that we have
read your address, announcing your intention
to withdraw yourself as a candidate for the re-
presentation of Liverpool.

" Impressed with a high respect for your
talents and your virtues, confident in your
abilities, and still more so in your integrity, we

400 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

invited you, the last autumn, to offer yourself as
a competitor for that honour. At the expense
of considerable sacrifices you complied with our
invitation. Our joint efforts were crowned with
the most brilliant success, and you took your
seat as one of our representatives in the great
council of the nation.

"It is with pleasure that we discharge an in-
cumbent duty in assuring you, that your conduct
in that assembly meets with our entire approba-
tion. In most of the particulars of that conduct
you expressed our unanimous sentiments, and in
whatever cases any of us might differ from you
in opinion, we paid cheerful deference to the
purity of your motives. It was never our object
to send into parliament a party agent, or an
instrument of faction. Our honest ambition
was, and is, to be represented by a man of un-
deviating honour, who would uniformly act ac-
cording to the dictates of his conscience.

" Regarding you, Sir, as such a man, we have
cherished an earnest desire that you should
again yield your services to the independent
burgesses of Liverpool, under the full persuasion
that you retain the affectionate esteem of a great
majority of your late constituents. We were
not, indeed, insensible of the effects which had
been produced by the misrepresentations of your
opponents. But we were assured that a simple
explanation on your part would have convinced

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 401

those who have been deluded by groundless
clamour, that an enlargement of the royal pre-
rogative entrenches not on the privileges of the
sovereign ; that your political friends, who com-
prise almost the whole body of the ancient
nobility and gentry of the realm, can have no
interest separate from the welfare of their coun-
try; that the enabling his Majesty to permit
such of his Catholic subjects as he may think
deserving of trust, to fight his battles, cannot
possibly endanger the church establishment ;
and that the contest which now convulses the
kingdom is not a struggle between the throne
and a faction, but between honesty and pecula-
tion, between integrity and corruption.

" We are the more persuaded that these truths
would have been brought home to the general
feelings, from the unexampled attendance with
which you were honoured on your arrival in
Liverpool on Saturday last. As to the outrages
which took place on that day, be assured we
reflect upon them with mingled sensations of
indignation and contempt. And we are con-
fident that could you have been persuaded to
authorise our firm but peaceable exertions in
your favour, we should soon have demonstrated
that the sense of the town is not to be ascer-
tained by the chalk or the pen of the incendiary,
nor its spirit by the clamour and violence of in-
toxicated ruffians.

VOL. I. D D

402 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

" As, however, you have declined to accept
our services, however cheerfully proffered, we
pay reluctant deference to your decision, ex-
presssing our warmest wishes for your health
and comfort in your retirement, and assuring you
that the concern which we cannot but feel on
this occasion is much lessened by the prospect
of your again residing amongst us, and gratify-
ing us by the attentions of private friendship.
" Signed on behalf of a most numerous and
respectable meeting of Mr. Roscoe's
friends,

" THOMAS RAWSON."

From many quarters Mr. Roscoe received
communications expressive of the strong regret
which the late occurrences at Liverpool had
occasioned. " I am seized alternately with stupor
and indignation," says Dr. Parr, in a letter written
at this time, " at the state of public affairs. Do
not suppose that I am a tame or careless observer
of the strange and disgraceful events which have
occurred at Liverpool. Disdain, I beseech you,
to repel any accusations. All wise and all vir-
tuous men will deplore your removal from par-
liament, and will detest or despise the artifices
of your opponents. Reading, reflection, the
society of wise men, and the conscious rectitude
of your own intentions, will preserve you and
me from the perturbation and dismay which

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 403

other men may experience in these strange and
eventful times. The yell of ' No Popery* has
been heard even at Cambridge : the effects of
it were visible in the late election ; and on the
walls of our senate house, of Clare Hall chapel,
and of Trinity Hall, I saw the odious words in
large characters. The good sense of the country
will not speedily return. There is a great and
portentous change in the public mind, and you
and I are at a loss to assign the cause, or to pre-
dict the consequences. So it is, that, amidst the
fury of the tempest, and the wreck of our fairest
hopes, I feel myself sustained and animated by
the reflection that you, and those who supported
you, deserved a better fate."

The resignation of Mr. Roscoe did not pre-
vent the freemen of Liverpool from attempting
to assert their own cause. A number of the
electors, without any communication either with
him or his late committee, met together for the
purpose of considering the best means of securing
his re-election. A subscription was set on foot,
and instead of receiving bribes, the poorer voters
cheerfully contributed their half crowns or half
guineas to the expenses of the contest. About
one hundred pounds having been raised in this
manner amongst the common freemen, a number
of gentlemen stepped forwards and offered their
exertions in the same cause ; still without the
sanction of Mr. Roscoe or his immediate friends.
D D 2

404 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

On the day of election he was nominated as a
candidate, and the contest was kept up for
seven days, when it terminated in favour of
Generals Gascoigne and Tarleton by a large ma-
jority.

An effort so zealous and disinterested called
for the acknowledgments of Mr. Roscoe ; which
were accordingly expressed immediately after
the conclusion of the election, in an Address, of
which the following is the termination : —

" In taking my leave of you in a public cha-
racter, and returning to the avocations of private
life, I feel consolations of which no change,
either in the opinions or the conduct of others,
can ever deprive me. I have faithfully dis-
charged, to the best of my abilities, the trust
reposed in me ; not by sacrificing my principles
to my popularity, but by consulting the true
honour and character, and, let me add, the real
and permanent interests of the town of Liver-
pool, as well as of the empire at large. In the
great questions that have of late agitated the
country, I have taken that part to which I have
been induced by an unalterable attachment to
my king, a strict regard to the dignity and se-
curity of his crown, and a firm adherence to the
genuine principles of the British constitution ;
and I have contributed my humble efforts to-
wards promoting that affection, attachment, and
brotherly union, amongst his Majesty's subjects

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 405

of all religious denominations, which are now
become indispensably necessary, as well to the
internal tranquillity as to the general defence
of these realms.

" With these reflections I could easily have
consoled myself under much greater changes of
popular favour than any that I have ever ex-
perienced. But your unsolicited patronage has
removed all impressions of the kind ; and I retire
with the additional satisfaction of knowing that
my public conduct, during the short but eventful
period in which I have been your representative,
has obtained the approbation of a great and
respectable body of my constituents, and has
preserved to me undiminished those connections
of private attachment and friendship, which have
hitherto been the chief honour and happiness of
my life."

Great regret was expressed by the political
friends of Mr. Roscoe, when his resolution to
retire from public life became known. How
highly his services were valued, and how much
the loss of them was felt, will appear from the
following extract from a letter addressed to him
on this occasion by Lord Holland : — " Among
the many mortifications to which an interest in
political events exposes one, there is none greater
than the success which a senseless cry sometimes
insures over tried worth and a steady attachment
D D 3

406 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

to the cause of the people. Representative go-
vernments and popular elections being the best
devices which human wisdom has contrived for
the security of liberty, and the preservation of
its spirit among the people, it disgusts one's
feelings, and humiliates one's pride, to see them
rendered the instruments of bigotry and pre-
judice ; and to find the enemies of liberty tri-
umphant in the very sanctuaries instituted for
her protection. The instances of such a per-
version of our best institutions have not been so
numerous on this occasion as the fomentors of the
cry expected that they would be ; but, I assure
you, your rejection at Liverpool is considered by
us all as one of the greatest disgraces to the
country, as well as misfortunes to the party, that
could have happened."

Of the line of conduct pursued by him on
this occasion Mr. Roscoe never repented, firmly
persuaded that it had prevented the occurrence
of evils which his return to parliament could
never have counterbalanced. In a letter to the
Duke of Gloucester, written immediately after
the publication of his address, he says, " At a
time like the present, it was not without great
reluctance that I withdrew myself as a candidate;
but the more I reflect upon it, the more reason
I have to be satisfied with my determination ; for
the violence of my opponents and their friends,
and the prejudices of the town, are such, that I

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOF,. 4-07

am persuaded my further interference must have
produced the most unhappy consequences."

How joyfully his mind reverted, from the cares
and tumults of public life, to the calm pleasures
of a private station, may be best learned from his
own words. In a letter to Dr. J. E. Smith, written
in the summer of 1807, he says, " I have for some
time past rejoiced in the thought that I am likely
to see you in Lancashire in the course of the
present summer. I already anticipate the hap-
piness I shall have in your society at Allerton,
where I must at least claim some portion of your
time, and where I shall be delighted to stroll
and saunter with you through the fields in an
evening, instead of being locked up, balloting for
committees, in St. Stephen's. In truth, my dear
friend, it requires but little of the efforts of others
to drive me from public life. The only wonder
is, that I was ever brought into it ; and I sink
back with such a rapidity of gravitation into my
natural inclination for quiet and retirement, that
I totally despair of ever being roused again to a
similar exertion. Add to this, that the one great
object which was continually before my eyes is
now attained, and I shall have the perpetual
gratification of thinking that I gave my vote in
the assembly of the nation for abolishing the
slave trade to Africa. Though not insensible
to the state of the country, yet I see no question
of equal magnitude ; and am fully aware how
r> D 4

408 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

little my efforts could avail in the political
struggles of the times. Come then, my friend,
and let us again open the book of nature, and
wander through the fields of science. Your
presence will increase my reviving relish for bo-
tanical pursuits ; and when we are tired with
those subjects, we will call in the aid of the poets
and philosophers to vary our entertainments."

" After all the agitation and anxiety of mind,"
says Dr. J. E. Smith in reply, " which I have
felt for some weeks past on your account, how
delightful it is to find, by your most welcome
and interesting letter of the 25th of June, that
you still possess yourself in undisturbed tran-
quillity ; not like a reed that has bent before the
storm, but like a palm-tree, around whose po-
lished and upright stem the winds have whistled,
without ruffling the lofty honours of its head !
Such a plant can no more be nursed in St.
Stephen's chapel, than the Norfolk Island pine,
250 feet high, in any of our stoves. You are
now in your proper element ; and very long may
you continue so ! The world is not worthy of
you, * nor the world's law.'

'* The line of conduct you have pursued se-
cures you from regret ; and I trust you will soon
look back on all that is past, with no less satis-
faction, on every account, than self-approbation.
I wished it rather for your triumph than your
happiness ; and really triumphs of any kind are

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 409

worth but little : — ' One self-approving hour,'
&c., you know the rest ; and that a good man has,
independent of triumphs founded on the acci-
dental justice of the world."

Soon after his retirement from Parliament, Mr.
Roscoe was gratified by receiving, in the follow-
ing letter from the Earl of Derby, the Lord
Lieutenant of the county of Lancaster, an ex-
pression of his Lordship's wish that he would
suffer himself to be appointed one of the Deputy
Lieutenants of the county : —

" Dear Sir,

" I have lately been applied to and desired to
appoint some gentlemen in the neighbourhood
of Liverpool to be Deputy Lieutenants of this
county. I think I cannot in a better manner
comply with this request than by applying to you,
and desiring your permission to propose you to
his Majesty to fill this office. If I obtain it, I
assure you I shall have great pride and pleasure
in laying such a name before his Majesty, with
the recommendation of,

" Dear Sir,

" Your obliged and faithful humble servant,

" DERBY."

To this communication Mr. Roscoe returned
the following answer : —

410 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

" My Lord,

" I should have esteemed it a very great
honour to have been recommended by your
Lordship to his Majesty as a Deputy Lieutenant
of the county, had I not been one of those, whom
the operation of the test laws excludes from all
offices of trust under government. I well know
that if others thought with the same liberality as
your Lordship, these disabilities would be re-
moved ; but whilst they remain, I think it better
that those affected by them should implicitly
submit to them, rather than by an occasional
conformity to, or an open disregard of them,
invalidate the reasons for their repeal.

" With the deepest sense of this mark of your
Lordship's confidence, I remain,

" My Lord,
" Your Lordship's most obliged

" And most faithful servant,

" W. ROSCOE."

CHAPTER X.

1808.

Mr. Roscoe's Tracts on the War. — Publication of the
" Considerations on the Causes, fyc. of the War with,
France." — Character of Mr. Pitt in that pamphlet. —
The attack upon Copenhagen. — Poem of " Copenhagen."
— Letter to Mr. Wilberforce. — Success of the pamphlet.
— Letter from Mr. WJiitbread. — Letter to Mr. Wilber-
force. — Impression made by the pamphlet. — Publication
of " Remarks on the Proposals for Peace" fyc. — Letter
from Mr. Rathbone. — The pamphlet submitted to
Mr. Whitbread — letter from himt and reply. — Mr.
Roscoe's defence against his critics. — Letter to Pro-
fessor Smyth. — Opinions on the pamphlet. — Letterjrom
Mr. J. Graham. — Letters to the Marquis ofLansdowne
and to Mr. Whitbread. — Some of his political friends
differ from Mr. Roscoe on the subject of peace — he pro-
poses and carries a pacific address at a public meeting at
Liverpool. — Letter to Mr. Mathias.

413

CHAPTER X.

ALTHOUGH no longer actively engaged in the
duties of public life, Mr. Roscoe was not in-
sensible to the prospects of the country and to
the progress of political affairs. He saw, with
sorrow and dismay, that the spirit of hostility,
which had given rise to a war almost unex-
ampled in the expenditure of blood and of trea-
sure, still continued to actuate the councils of
the English government, and he was impelled,
by a sense of the injustice of this protracted
contest, and of the dangers which the country
incurred by its continuance, to exert whatever
influence he possessed, in directing the public
mind to more pacific views. From the com-
mencement of the French war in the year 1793
he had, on various occasions, earnestly advocated
the cause of peace. In his " Thoughts on the
Causes of the late Failures*," he had denounced
the war as the origin of the evils under which
the country was suffering ; and in the year 1802

• Vide ante, p. 125.

414 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

he again exerted himself in the same cause, by
the publication of a short pamphlet under the
title of " Observations on the relative Situation
of Great Britain and France."* He now made
another attempt to enforce these opinions, in a
pamphlet, to which he gave the title of " Con-
siderations on the Causes, Objects, and Con-
sequences of the present JVar, and on the Expe-
diency or the Danger of Peace with France '."t

Now that Europe has long returned to a state
of peace, and that this country has had an oppor-
tunity, which she never enjoyed while the con-
test continued, of weighing the effects of the
long and sanguinary struggle in which she en-
gaged, it is unnecessary to recur to the argu-
ments with which Mr. Roscoe enforced his
opinions. The result has shown, but too forcibly,
the correctness and the foresight of his judg-
ment ; and the peace which arrived at last, in-
duced not so much by the wisdom of our own
councils or the vigour of our own arms, as by
the mad ambition of our enemies, reached us
only just in time to rescue the country from
destruction. Not one of the objects of those
with whom the war originated has been accom-
plished. The French nation have once more
expelled from amongst them those whose fatal

* Reprinted in the " Occasional Tracts on the War."
1810.

•J- Reprinted in the Tracts on the War.

LIFE OF WILLIAM HOSCOE. 415

maxims of government were the occasion of the
Revolution, and have, undisturbed by foreign in-
terference, freely chosen for themselves their own
rulers ; while, in this country, the principles of
freedom and reform, which it was the unceasing
endeavour of the war-party to crush, have at-
tained a complete, and, it may be hoped, a
lasting triumph. The only effect of the long
and bloody contest has been to burden the
country with a debt, the weight of which, even
now, impoverishes her industrious population,
oppresses her best energies, and still threatens
her with destruction.

Though the subjects which form the topics
of this pamphlet have partially lost their in-
terest, yet the following passage, containing a
character of Mr. Pitt, may not improperly be
extracted : —

" With the battle of Austerlitz the confeder-
ation against France terminated, and with that
terminated also the political career and the life
of Mr. Pitt — a statesman to whom it would be
unjust to deny the endowments of extraordinary
talents, and the praise of having improved those
talents in some departments, to a most uncom-
mon degree. But these accomplishments, which
oiiffht to have rendered him a benefactor to his

o

country, were unfortunately subservient to one
predominating passion, which not only counter-
acted their good effects, but converted them into

416 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

implements of danger and destruction. This
passion he inherited from his father, who che-
rished it in the early years of his son, and
directed his infant gaze towards that eminent
station which he had himself once occupied.
In his education nothing was left undone, that
could qualify him to attain this object ; and no
one certainly entered into public life with equal
advantages. There is, however, an essential
difference between those qualities which are
calculated to obtain power, and those which
enable us to make a proper use of it. Unfor-
tunately, the system of education of Mr. Pitt
was, in politics, that which Lord Chesterfield's
is in private life. It was founded on too narrow
a basis, and aimed too directly at its object. A
cultivated mind and a humane disposition will
render their possessor truly polite j sound prin-
ciples and a real love of mankind, truly patriotic ;
but without these, neither the politeness nor the
patriotism is any thing more than a whited
sepulchre. The system was, however, success-
ful : the young orator began his career in a
manner the best calculated to display his powers.
As he spoke, the hopes of freedom revived ;
corruption shrank before his glance, and the
nation hailed him as her deliverer ; but no sooner
was the prize within his grasp, than he seized it
with an eagerness, and retained it with a tenacity,
which all the efforts of his opponents could

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 417

neither impede nor relax. Having thus ob-
tained the supreme power, the talents which
had acquired it were employed with equal suc-
cess to preserve it. The correction of abuses,
the removal of peculation and corruption, the
reform of the representation, the extension of
religious and civil liberty, were now no longer
the objects in view ; or were only recalled at
stated periods, to show how the minister could
blast his promise without breaking his faith.
Well schooled in all the routine and arcana of
office, an adept in the science of finance and
taxation, Mr. Pitt's great accomplishment was a
thorough knowledge of the artificial and complex
machine of government, and his great defect,
a total insensibility to the feelings of mankind,
and a thorough ignorance of the leading prin-
ciples of human nature. Unfortunately for his
fame and for his country, new situations arose,
to which the hackneyed rules of a narrow policy
were totally inapplicable. A powerful nation,
whose slavery had for ages been its reproach,
threw off its shackles, and attempted to form for
itself a limited monarchy. It was Mr. Pitt's
first misfortune to be insensible to the grandeur
of so glorious a struggle, his second to mis-
calculate its consequences. The first act of
France was to hold out her emancipated hands
to the free states of England and America ; but
the coldness of the minister soon convinced her
VOL. i. E E

418 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

that in this country she was not to expect a
friend. That coldness soon degenerated into
enmity and abhorrence, and through every
change of circumstance and situation, through
all the evolutions and forms of her government,
whether monarchical, republican, aristocratical,
or despotic, she found in him a decided and
an inflexible enemy. With what success his
hostility has been attended impartial history
will show."

The attack upon Denmark, a neutral state,
not with the view of preventing a possible junc-
tion with France, but for the purpose of fore-
stalling that nation in an act of unexampled
atrocity, is one of the subjects commented upon
in the " Considerations," and denounced with
all the energies of the writer's mind. Upon the
justification of " the cruel necessity which obliged
the British sovereign to have recourse to acts of
hostility against a nation, with which it was his
most earnest desire to have established the rela-
tions of common interest and alliance," Mr.
Roscoe observes ; " This passage contains the
complete avowal of the principle upon which
the British ministry acted. It presumes, not
only that the laws of morality and justice, and
the rules of good faith which attach one indi-
vidual or one nation to another, may be dispensed
with from temporary motives, but that either of
the parties has a right to judge of such motives,

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 4-19

and to disregard those rules whenever he may
think proper. That this doctrine cannot be sup-
ported must be apparent to every one, from the
slightest observation of the consequences to which
it must lead. At no period of society have
mankind been so lost to the dignity of their
nature and the interests of their association as to
avow it. Even states and sovereigns at war,
under circumstances of the utmost exasperation,
have rejected it with horror ; and it may truly
be said, that the establishment of such a maxim,
even between belligerent powers, is all that is
now wanting to complete the downfal of Europe,
and destroy the hopes of mankind. Jealousy,
hatred, assassination, poison, treachery, cruelty,
and revenge are its instruments, to be indiscri-
minately employed as necessity requires, and
upon these grounds every crime and every
atrocity may be equally justified."

The feelings of Mr. Roscoe, when highly ex-
cited, were often poured out in verse ; and the
sanguinary act which he thus reprobated in his
pamphlet, became the subject of the following
short poem.

COPENHAGEN.

« Shroud me, shroud me, shades of night,

Save me from the blasting sight ! ' —
Thus by Murder's screams awoke,
Britain's troubled Genius spoke,
Whilst beneath the northern star
Gleam'd the purple cloud of war. —

E E %

420 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

— Echoing thro* the midnight skies,
Shrieks of fear and anguish rise,
As the battle's furious rage
Spares nor infancy nor age. —

— " Stay," she cries, " ye ruthless bands,
Stay your fratricidal hands —

If your breasts with vengeance glow,

Drive its fury on the foe —

But the wise, the just, the brave,

Britain's glory is to save."

Hark ! the war-shouts louder swell ;

Hark ! the victor's tiger yell.

— Now the work of death is o'er,
Suffering Nature bears no more ;
O'er the city's sea-girt steeps
Desolation sits and weeps ;
There the mother, wandering wild,
Asks the stranger for her child,
And sacrilegious feet have trod
O'er the prostrate fanes of God.
Wretches ! who, in evil hour,
Seized the trident of my power,
For whose guilt no time atones,
Murderers ! whom my soul disowns,
Authors of your country's shame,
Recreants to a Briton's name ;
What could prompt your furious rage
Thus the war with Heaven to wage,
In its decrees refuse to trust,

And boldly dare to be unjust? —

Say, can you pierce with steady eye

The folds of dark Futurity,

Control the stubborn course of Fate,

That good from ill may emanate,

That thus you raise, by fear unaw'd,

Your impious hands against your God ?

— Supreme Creator ! he with ease

Can smooth the waves and bridge the seas,

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 421

Can raise the feeble and forlorn,
And dash the pride of man to scorn.
Earth trembles at his mighty stroke,
At his touch the mountains smoke,
And changing at his powerful call,
Successive nations rise and fall.
Wretches ! for whose dark misdeeds
Thus my soul in anguish bleeds,
By unprecedented crimes,
The reproach of future times;
Know, not long your impious sway
Thus shall blot the face of day.

— Rising from its native steep,
Soon th' indignant storm shall sweep,
That shall whelm, in dire disgrace,
You and all your blood-stained race.

— Then once more in Britain's isle,
Suns of brighter glow shall smile,
And the white-robed lustral band
From pollution cleanse the land ;
Then again shall Britain's name
Emulate her former fame,

And her arm be stretch'd to save
The just, the generous, and the brave !

On the subject of the attack upon Copenhagen,
Mr. Roscoe had the misfortune to find his opi-
nions at variance with those of some of the poli-
tical friends with whom he had been accustomed
to act, — a circumstance which he deeply re-
gretted, not so much because it placed him in
opposition to those whom he loved and respected,
as because he was deprived of their assistance in
the maintenance of the principles he had so
much at heart. In a letter to Mr. Wilberforce,
E E 3

422 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

he has expressed this feeling in strong language.
* * * " What is it that has preserved the human
race from utter degradation and ruin, but the
assertion from time to time of these sacred prin-
ciples of morality and justice, which are daily
and hourly in danger of being lost amongst the
violence and the wrath, the prejudices and the
passions of mankind? When these principles
are combated and denied, the lines of demarc-
ation are drawn between the opposing parties,
and the last stand must be made for the preserv-
ation of that which is dearer than life. With an
ardent spirit, but a feeble hand, I have plunged
into the contest, and I naturally look round to
those, who have on other occasions shown them-
selves the firm and fearless friends of truth, of
liberty, and of the best interests of mankind, for
their countenance and support ; or rather for
their better and more effectual efforts to release
me from a task to which I am unequal. Must
I add, that I look with fear, and anxiety, and
dread ! That even in the small circle, in which
I once had the pleasure and the honour of de-
liberating with you, for the benefit of a distant
people and of future times, I am to reflect with
sorrow, that there are some with whom I must
now differ on one of the most important ques-
tions that ever came before a nation ?

" I have not the presumption to arrogate to
myself a superior delicacy of feeling on such a

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

subject ; far less would I assume the airs of a
rhetorical moralist, carrying his ideas to an ex-
treme inconsistent with the nature of human
affairs ; but, if ever there was a crime that bore
upon its forehead its very name in burning cha-
racters, and which posterity will regard with
peculiar horror, it is that which perpetrated the
enormities at Copenhagen. Nor will it long
escape notice, that this transaction was, if pos-
sible, still more impolitic than it was unjust."

To another of his political friends who had
justified the conduct of the British Government
in this transaction, he wrote in language of
almost indignant sorrow : —

" I certainly had flattered myself, that if
there was a man in the kingdom, in whose sight
the opinions avowed in my late publication
would have found favour, it was yourself, and I
may truly add that if there was any part of it,
which I thought more likely than the rest to
obtain this honour, it was that which related to
the attack upon Denmark.

" I know of no circumstance that could have
damped my hopes and depressed my feelings so
much as to find that this is not the case ; and I
naturally ask myself what is to be expected from
others, when those, on whose countenance and
support I chiefly reckoned, in the humble attempt
I had made to inform the judgment of the public,
E E 4

424 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

see this great object in a totally different point
of view." — " But, independently of the particular
nature and horrid consequences of this transac-
tion, I must avow my decided opinion, that if the
maxims and principles upon which such a trans-
action can alone be justified, be once established,
there is an end of every thing that is sacred, just,
and honourable amongst mankind. Treaties are
no longer of any avail, and fraud and force will
henceforth contend for mastery with each other.
If such a pretext as that for the attack on
Copenhagen be a sufficient justification, I will
forfeit my head if there ever be one wanting to
the end of time, for the greatest atrocity that the
human imagination can devise. What is the
final and essential cause of all the despotism on
earth, but the tyrant's apprehension that if he
does not cut off and destroy those around him,
some danger, immediate or remote, may be ap-
prehended to himself, and, therefore, his self-
preservation, or what is called necessity, compels
him to have recourse to bloody and destructive
measures. When I reflect that fear has no
limits, and that cruelty derives new fierceness
from gratification, when I am told that the
maxims of Bonaparte are henceforth to become
the maxims of Great Britain, I tremble for the
independence and the fate of what yet remains of
Europe ; and see no repose for mankind till they
are absorbed in that dreadful gulf of universal

LIFE OP WILLIAM ROSCOE. 425

dominion, or rather of universal subjugation,
towards which we are so rapidly tending."

The success of the " Considerations " far ex-
ceeded the expectations of the author. The
pamphlet, which was published in January, at
the commencement of February had reached its
fourth edition ; and in the course of the year,
eight large impressions of it were demanded by
the public. Like every successful political work,
it attracted various replies ; one of which appeared
at Liverpool, another in Edinburgh, and a third
in London. Mr. Cobbett also devoted three
letters in his " Register" to the consideration of
its merits. But the idea that he had contributed
in any degree to forward the cause of peace, was
a full compensation to Mr. Roscoe for the ob-
loquy and abuse with which his writings were
received by his adversaries. " It cannot," he
says in a letter to one of his correspondents,
" have escaped your penetration how open my
pamphlet is, from the nature of the subjects
there discussed, to misrepresentations of various
kinds, which I have not thought proper to guard
against, as is the fashion of the times, by ob-
trusive professions of loyalty or continual abuse
of our enemies. Having never, either in word,
thought, or action, given ground for such im-
putations as some of my critics have, I find,
thrown out against me, I should feel it a hu-
miliation to vindicate that loyalty to my So-

426 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

vereign, and attachment to my country, which
no one has just grounds to impeach ; and shall
leave it to the public to judge between me and
my assailants, without further answer." By many
of his political friends he had the pleasure of
finding his work spoken of in terms of warm
admiration ; and the following letter from Mr.
Whitbread, who, like himself, had the subject of
peace " nearest to his heart," and whose labours
in parliament were at this time especially directed
to the same object, afforded Mr. Roscoe the
highest satisfaction : —

" I was highly gratified by the attention you
Were so good as to show me in ordering a copy
of your pamphlet to be sent to me, as every tes-
timony of your regard and approbation is of the
highest value in my estimation. I read the work
with the avidity which my knowledge of the
merits of the author in every way was so well
calculated to excite, as well as the subject which
he had treated, which of all others is the nearest
to my heart. You may believe me, when I assure
you that (exclusive of the note which is so pe-
culiarly pleasant to me personally, and for which
I sincerely thank you) my expectations, however
highly raised, were perfectly satisfied, and that I
esteem the production worthy of your fame and
of the great work respecting which you have
written. The positions you have taken are im-
pregnable ; the truths you have told are incon-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 427

trovertible : and if any thing can give them their
due weight in these disastrous times of fright and
delusion, it will be the temperate and conciliating
manner in which you have stated them. The
public of these kingdoms and the world are
greatly indebted to you for your labours ; would
I could hope the English public would allow the
rest of mankind to profit by them.

" You will have perceived that I gave notice
some days since of my intention of submitting
to the House a direct proposition on the subject
of peace. I delay it for the purpose of seeing
whether any further step will be taken by the
French Emperor in consequence of the foolish
and insolent refusal of his overtures, and because
I think, for some parliamentary reasons, it may be
brought forward with greater effect a short time
hence. You have given me powerful assistance.
I wish you were amongst us, that I might derive
further aid from your exertions in the House ;
and in that wish I am sure I am joined by all
who value independence, ability, and integrity.
You avowed your opinion of the propriety of my
conduct, at a time when I felt myself impelled to
act by motives too powerful for restraint. Many
who then joined in the attempt to restrain me,
now give me the late satisfaction of knowing that
they agreed with me in opinion at the time. I
thank them for their frankness, and it gives me
additional courage to proceed."

428 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

In the course of his speech on bringing for-
wards his promised motion, Mr. Whitbread took
the opportunity of referring to the unceasing
labours of Mr. Roscoe in the same cause, a cir-
cumstance most pleasing to the feelings of the
latter. " As to myself," he says, in a letter to
Mrs. Rathbone, " I will confess to you I am
gratified beyond the extent of my hopes by the
circumstance which occurred in the House on
Thursday night. To be mentioned with appro-
bation by such a man, and on such an occasion,
when the eloquence of the tongue was prompted
by the best feelings of the heart, is, indeed, a
triumph, the more gratifying the more it was
unexpected."

The anxiety experienced by Mr. Roscoe that
his pamphlet should be favourably received in
quarters where it might produce impressions
serviceable to the cause of peace, appears from
the following letter, addressed to Mr. Wilber-
force, on the 30th January, 1808 : —

" Before I had the pleasure of your obliging
communication, I had desired my bookseller to
send you a copy of my pamphlet, which I hope
you have received. How happy should I be, my
dear Sir, if I could flatter myself that I agreed
with you on all subjects, as precisely as on that
on which I have had the pleasure of seconding
your efforts ; and this, not merely for my own

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 429

gratification, though I confess that would be
great indeed, but because, from your extensive
influence, great talents, and unexampled per-
severance in every benevolent purpose, I should
yet flatter myself with the hope of seeing the
calamities with which this country and mankind
are threatened effectually removed. Knowing
as I do, through every different shade of opinion
between us, the perfect rectitude of your views,
with what delight should I see you advocate the
cause of suffering Europe, or rather the cause of
the civilised world, with the same energy and
success as you have done that of the oppressed
Africans. I see with terror, not only the poli-
tical, but the moral horizon daily grow darker,
and I look up with anxiety to those few who
alone can dispel the gloom, and whom I consi-
der as the lights of mankind. I cannot, however,
venture to flatter myself that any representations
of mine can influence their determination, nor
am I indeed insensible, that the earnestness with
which I have enforced my own opinions, may,
in many instances, rather give offence than pro-
duce conviction. If, however, I have written
with warmth, many of those who espouse an
opposite opinion have more than set the example,
and as I feel the most decided conviction in my
own mind, that I am actuated by no other mo-
tive than a wish to promote the cause of sacred

430 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

morality and the true interests of my country,
as far as consistent with the general rights of
mankind, I should think myself inexcusable
were I to engage in the contest with * a cold
and unperforming hand.' At all events, you
will, I trust, allow me to retain some share of
your indulgence and favourable opinion, assured,
as you may be, that no difference as to means,
mode, or manner (for as to the main end, and
object, and view, it is impossible we can disagree)
can ever diminish the high respect, and allow me
to add, the affectionate attachment, with which
I am, &c. &c."

The impression made by this pamphlet is
noticed in a letter addressed by Mr. Roscoe to
Dr. Parr, and dated the 1st of February, 1808 : —
" May I hope, my dear Sir, that if my hasty
publication should engage your attention, I may
have your favourable construction, at least as
to my intentions and views ? It has been already
much noticed in London, where it was published
a week since, and I have this morning a line
from my printer, M'Creery, to say that he has
just put to press a fourth edition. By many it
is well spoken of; by some, and those amongst
my friends in politics, it is complained of as
bearing hard on the late administration ; and
by others, the advocates of war and desolation,
it is abused in gross and open terms. I hope,
however, that you will find, that on all the great

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 431

points of politics and of morality, I have not
deserted those principles which I have the
pleasure to know we hold in common."

Soon after the publication of this pamphlet,
Mr. Roscoe was induced, in consequence of
certain papers respecting the proposals for peace
being laid before parliament, to appear again
before the public in a short tract intended as a
sequel to the " Considerations." This tract,
which he entitled, " Remarks on the Proposals
made to Great Britain for opening Negociations
for Peace, in the Year 1807," was written for the
purpose of showing that the ministers, whilst
they professed themselves favourable to peace,
had, in three distinct instances, demonstrated in
the most decided manner, their unwillingness
even to enter upon a negociation for it. He
then states the real nature and tendency of the
petitions for peace, and lastly contends, that if,
after all, it should be unattainable, the war
ought to be conducted in a manner honourable
to the country. To this tract he added a preface
of considerable length, in which he shows the
application of the principles of morals to the
intercourse of states, and pleads in strong and
feeling language the cause of veracity, good
faith, and honour. The following passages are
i? ot perhaps exceeded in any part of his works.

" The truth is, that a patriot must be a
virtuous man, and a virtuous man will not commit

432 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

or encourage injustice for the sake either of
himself or others. After having participated
his affections with those around him, he will be
anxious to promote their interests ; but he will
promote them only in the same manner as he
would his own. Schooled to the restraint of
his own passions, he will not flatter and inflame
those of the populace. In acting for his country
he will seek for no advantages, but such as, under
similar circumstances, he would endeavour to
obtain for himself. If in the one case he would
not waylay and rob an unsuspecting neighbour,
in the other he would not enrich his country by
piracy, violence, and spoil. In this he would do,
not only what is abstractedly right, but what is
truly and ultimately for the real interests of his
country. The globe is a society of states, and
nations as well as individuals have each their
peculiar character. To grasp at temporary ad-
vantages, to oppress a weaker, or circumvent an
incautious neighbour, may frequently, in private
life, be attended with success ; and states and
nations may, in like manner, seem for a while,
by a similar conduct, to promote their prosperity.
But the foundation is unsound, and the edifice
of their greatness is built on sand. By the
system of Providence and the constitution of
human affairs, a continual barrier is forming
against such unjust aggressions, which are coun-
teracted by the influence of public opinion, the

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 433

distrust and resentment of surrounding states,
and a thousand unforeseen circumstances, that
either frustrate the expected advantage or re-
taliate its injustice, and not unfrequently sub-
ject the aggressor to the very evils intended to
be inflicted on others. It is, therefore, only by
strictly conforming to the eternal principles of
right and justice, that we can consult either our
own honour or our own interest ; and to desert
those principles when a particular occasion puts
them to the test, is to exclude ourselves, by our
own act, from the pale of civilised society, and
to render ourselves as it were outlaws to the
rest of the world.

" Such appear to be the positive and relative
duties of the subjects of a free state ; but if they
who obey be accountable both to themselves and
the public for the propriety of their conduct,
they who are intrusted with the executive power
of a state have a still more weighty task imposed
on them. In claiming from the people a general
assent to their measures, and a perfect unanimity
of support, they must take care that such
measures are consistent with the acknowledged
laws of universal justice, and are not subversive
of those first principles of morals which are ante-
cedent to every other law of society. As man
to man, there are certain duties incumbent on
us, the violation of which no pretext of political
necessity or national hostility can justify. To

VOL. I. F F

434 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

inculcate upon the people ideas of a contrary
tendency, and to weaken their faith in the exist-
ence of political virtue, is not less impolitic than
it is erroneous. That governments as well as
individuals are actuated only by selfish motives,
and that the professions which they are con-
tinually making of veracity, fidelity, honour, and
frankness, are merely a cloak for their criminal
views, are sentiments which it is thought a mark
of penetration to have discovered, and a proof
of sincerity to avow. But whatever may be
thought of the sagacity of such politicians, to act
upon the conviction of such sentiments is dan-
gerous. God has not abandoned his creatures,
nor are the common feelings of human nature
wholly extinguished amongst mankind. If there
be depravity, there is yet integrity ; if there be op-
pression, there is yet sympathy ; if there be base-
ness, there is yet honour j if there be treachery,
violence, and rapine, there are still the unextin-
guishable feelings of virtuous indignation and
generous contempt ; and they who direct their
conduct, either in public or in private life, with
a total disregard to these truths, will, whatever
may be their temporary success, incur, upon the
whole, not only disappointment but disgrace."

Previously to the publication of this tract,
Mr. Roscoe was very desirous of submitting it to
the excellent judgment of Mr. Whitbread, whose
devotion to the cause of peace was equally

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

ardent with his own. The readiness with which
the latter consented to perform this friendly
office rendered the service still more acceptable,
" Whitbread, who is a divine man," says Mr,
Rathbone, who was then in London with the
view of forwarding the repeal of the celebrated
Orders in Council, " is very anxious you should
publish, and confident it will do great good.
Do not think I wish to pay compliments : I
would avoid them, could I otherwise say what I
think. But he says, and I so clearly see, that
your name will do much. He expressed the
great pleasure it would give him to revise it,
and an assurance that he would offer his un-
feigned opinion, and you might then do as you
thought best. We also agreed that it would
prove the most dignified conduct tP come for-
wards boldly and manfully again, and without
noticing any attack of Cobbett, or any other
person, tell the country what it imports them to
know. This we think is the way to keep the
high and firm ground on which you stand.
You will judge for yourself. Make use of me
in what way you please ; and with much more
effect you may make use of Whitbread. He is,
indeed, a delightful man : we have all at once
jumped into an intimacy, and I cleave to him as
a brother or a bosom friend." In a letter written
shortly after the preceding, Mr. Rathbone says,
" Mr. Whitbread told me that he had written to

F F 2

436 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

you, and Mr. Brougham assured me his remarks
should go to you by the post of the 12th (the
day on which we left London), which I strongly
urged. Mr. W. said you and he had viewed
some parts of the subject in different lights ; but
this did not, in his opinion, lessen the value of
your publication. I am strongly of the same
opinion. His is an excellent speech ; and some
parts towards the conclusion are admirably im-
pressive. Yet it does not, on the whole, appear
to me calculated to produce conviction in the
way that your pamphlet is ; nor do I expect it
will be so generally read ; and this was the opi-
nion of Ridgway. I hope it is now come out,
or that its appearance will soon take place, for I
think it should follow Mr. Whitbread's pretty
soon ; and I hope, also, that you have not pruned
it too much, in compliance with the suggestions
of very prudential critics. With a large class,
we must expect all works of such tendency to be
very unpopular ; and I see no signs that the vio-
lence or the acrimony of party spirit is likely to
subside or even abate. This may render caution
requisite in respect to the issuing of any publi-
cations, or taking any part in public measures ;
but it appears to me, that if either of these are
advisable, then the only line to be pursued is to
be explicit, vigorous, and decided."

The pamphlet was subsequently submitted, in
the proofs, to Mr. Whitbread ; and most of the al-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 4-37

terations suggested by him, chiefly relating to
matters of fact, were adopted by the author.*
The proofs were accompanied by the following
letter : —

" At length I take the liberty of returning the
pamphlet which you were so good as to submit
to my perusal, with such remarks as have sug-
gested themselves to me in the course of it, I
have been prevented, by the constant pressure of
material business, from giving earlier attention to
it, in the way in which I wished to do it ; and,
indeed, I was anxious you should see the report
of my speech, before you finally decided upon
the difference between us, in some of our respec-
tive conclusions drawn from the papers. I
directed Ridgway to send you three copies of
my speech, begging you to accept one for your-
self, and requesting the favour of you to give one
copy to Mr. Martin and one to Mr. Rathbone,
who will, I believe, have quitted London before
this time.

" The spirit of equity, toleration, philan-
thropy, and patriotism, which pervades your
pamphlet, is your own, and I have not the

* The copy sent to Mr. Whitbread, and returned by him,
was carefully preserved by Mr. Roscoe, who has written on
the fly-leaf the following memorandum : — " The late Mr.
Whitbread did me the favour of perusing this pamphlet
before it was published, and the observations upon it are
in his handwriting."

F F 3

438 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

smallest doubt but that its publication will do
essential service to the cause we espouse ; and,
indeed, it wants assistance.

"If I might suggest any improvement, it
would be the compression of the preface, as being
rather too long for a work of such a size. The
sentiments are admirable throughout, and the
language is such as was to be expected from its
author."

" It is upwards of a week," says Mr. Roscoe,
in answer to the above letter, " since I received
the proof copy of my intended pamphlet, which
had been sent you by my printer, accompanied
by your letter and very judicious remarks; but
it was not till yesterday that I had the pleasure
of receiving the copies which you were so good
as to order to be sent me of your speech, for
which I beg you to accept my thanks, as well on
my own account as for my friends, Mr. R. and
Mr. M., who will think themselves much honoured
by your remembrance of them. The perusal of
this last noble effort on your part, to enlighten
our countrymen as to their true interests, has
only confirmed the opinion I have so long enter-
tained of the perfect rectitude of your principles
and the correctness of your views. How it is
possible for sophistry to misrepresent or dulness
to misconceive such statements is to me incom-
prehensible ; such, however, is the present state
of the public mind, that the stronger the light

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 439

becomes the more obstinate the people are in
closing their eyes against it. A wilful inflexibility
seems to pervade all ranks ; and if ever the hearts
of a people were hardened, they are certainly
those of our own countrymen.

" I have lost no time in comparing the pas-
sages marked by you in my pamphlet, with
those which touch on the same subject in your
speech, and in some instances I have impli-
citly adopted your recommendations, whilst in
others I have ventured to adhere to the views
I had before taken of the subject."

In pursuance of Mr. Whitbread's suggestion,
a portion of the preface was omitted, and amongst
other passages the following expression of the
writer's feelings with regard to the attacks upon
his former pamphlet : —

" With respect to my own personal feelings,
I am well aware that it would have been highly
inconsiderate, at a season like the present, for me
to have quitted my retirement, and entered on
the turbulent stage of political controversy, if I
had not been prepared for every consequence to
which such a measure might give rise. On this
occasion I may be allowed, like the younger
Pliny, when he was entreated by his friends to
desist from the dangerous task of avenging the
cause and bringing to public justice the murderers
of Helvidius, to adopt the language of Virgil :—

' Omnia percepi, atque animo mecum ante peregi.' "
F F 4

440 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

This tract did not meet with the same degree
of attention as its predecessor ; and in despite of
the exertions of those who, like Mr. Roscoe,
laboured in the cause of peace, the supporters of
the war continued to make proselytes. A fresh
arena was opened for the combatants in Spain,
and all idea of pacification was lost in the hope
of defeating the enemy in this new struggle. On
this topic Mr. Roscoe touches in the following
letter to Professor Smyth : —

" My polite critics were never more mistaken
than when they assert that I have a rage for
writing pamphlets, whilst the fact is, that the
hesitation and reluctance I feel on such occa-
sions are inexpressible. Who can have any plea-
sure in putting his head into such a hornet's
nest? or in being held up to the public as a
scarecrow ? or what, but an idea (right or
wrong) that what I have to say is of some im-
portance, could induce me to undergo such an
ordeal ?

" I think with you that the last pamphlet was
too late, and what interest it had has been wholly
taken away by new circumstances and events, in
which some persons foresee the liberation of
Europe. The liberation of Europe I alas ! what
can liberate countries sunk in the darkest super-
stition— the devoted slaves of despotic authority
— who dispute only for the right of bringing back
their former tyrants, adoring the Virgin Mary,

LII-i: 01 \MLL1AM UOSCOK. 441

and burning their neighbours? I execrate the
rapacity and ambition of Bonaparte, and should
be truly glad to see his projects defeated ; but
with respect to Spain and Portugal, if the only
result be that which is professed by themselves
and confirmed by our government, that they are
to return to the authority of their former dynas-
ties, under the wretched governments which have
so long oppressed them ; if, after having driven
out the invader, they are to relapse into the same
intellectual and moral imbecility in which they
have so long remained, I see little at which
liberty can congratulate herself or humanity re-
joice. My wishes, however, go with them. They
are struggling, if not for civil or political freedom,
for national independence; and if they should
accomplish it by their valour, it is yet to be
hoped that they will not resign, unconditionally,
into the hands of their former rulers, those rights
which they have preserved from the violation of
foreign arms."

By many of the friends whose judgment he
valued, Mr. Roscoe had the satisfaction of know-
ing that these efforts in the cause of peace were
approved.

" The pleasure which I received," says Mr.
James Grahame, the author of the beautiful
poem of " The Sabbath," " from the reperusal of
your Considerations on the causes, objects, and
consequences of the present war, was alloyed

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

with some portion of disappointment. The fifth
edition is, I see, before the public ; and yet the
war-whoop is as loud as ever, and was as loud,
before the dawn of the Spanish revolution had
opened a new prospect to our view. That your
impressive, your unanswerable arguments must
have sunk deep into the minds of thousands,
there can be no doubt ; but on the mass of this
people I fear that no impression can be made
through the medium of their reason. They have
ears, but they hear not. They exhibit an instance
of that obduracy in folly and in pride which so
frequently precedes the downfall of nations. The
preface to the remarks had quite an exhilarating
effect. Your observations on national ethics are
most excellent in themselves, and they are weU
calculated to impress the two great divisions of
mankind, the generous and the selfish. I was
particularly struck, and indeed solaced, by a fine
passage, of which the following words are a
part : — * God has not abandoned his creatures,5
&c. I thank you most heartily for the present. I
prized the * Considerations' very high before
they had acquired the additional value which, as
coming from yourself, they now possess. I feel,
indeed, much honoured by such a gift, and much
gratified by the expressions which accompany it.
To be acknowledged by you as no unworthy
ally in the cause of justice and humanity is truly
most pleasing.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 443

" The Spanish revolution has undoubtedly
produced a conjuncture to which some of your
arguments will not apply ; yet the general strain
of your reasoning will suit all times of warfare ;
for every war, even this of Spanish freedom
against French despotism, ought to be waged (so
far I mean as the directing councils are con-
cerned) in the spirit of peace. I own I am san-
guine with regard to Spain. I would like to
know your opinion."

The interest which the heroic efforts of the
Spaniards to escape the dominion of France ex-
cited in the breast of Mr. Roscoe, maybe gathered
from the following passage in a letter addressed
to the present Marquis of Lansdowne : —

" Since the publication of the two pamphlets
which your Lordship is so good as to notice, a
new aspect of public affairs has taken place, and
any interest which they might have excited is
lost in the great and unexpected events which
have since occurred. Some of our modern poli-
ticians seem at a loss to reconcile an attachment
to the cause of the Spaniards and Portuguese,
with the dislike which every friend of civil and
religious liberty must feel for their despotic and
intolerant institutions ; but this is not the ques-
tion. The struggle is for national independence,
whatever form of government or mode of reli-
gious worship they may choose to adopt ; and
the point in debate is whether they shall submit

444 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

themselves like slaves to an imperious usurper,
or assert their rights as a nation to adopt such
sovereign and such form of government as they
may think proper. Upon this subject there can
scarcely be a difference of opinion ; particularly
amongst those who so strenuously contended
that France had a similar right, and was very
unjustly attacked in the exercise of it by her
despotic neighbours. The consequences of the
events that have already occurred are highly
important to this country, if Spain and Portugal
can be considered, as I truly think they may, as
freed from the dominion of France ; and although
such events may not lead to a peace, they will
open an intercourse' between us and the con-
tinents of Europe and South America in the
highest degree advantageous."

Again, in reference to the negotiations which
took place in the year 1809, in a letter to
Mr. Whitbread he says, — "If Spain, after the
glorious struggle she is making, and all the
assistance this country can afford her, should
be eventually conquered, there is nothing to be
done but to submit to unavoidable events, and
and to wait for better times ; but to have aban-
doned our brave allies, and delivered them over
by our own voluntary act to their tyrannical
oppressor, would have entailed on this country
a degree of infamy never to have been removed.
I could not even have supposed that any pro-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 445

posals could have been made for negotiation, in
which the independence of Spain was not taken
as the basis ; and as this now appears not to have
been the case, our ministers were, in my humble
opinion, perfectly right in terminating the cor-
respondence. If they had always conducted
themselves with the same propriety and good
faith, I should have been as happy, at least, to
have applauded their conduct as I ever have
been to censure it.**

It was a matter of regret to Mr. Roscoe that
his arguments in favour of peace failed, in some
instances, to influence the minds of those whose
political principles were in other respects in per-
fect accordance with his own. To one of his
friends, for whose public and private character
he entertained the highest esteem, but who
differed from him on this subject, the following
letter is addressed : —

" Conceiving, as I do, that the very existence
of this country depends upon the speedy adop-
tion of pacific measures, and that if ruin does
not come from without, it will certainly come
from within, I must own I should have been
most particularly happy to have had the sanction
of your opinion, in favour of the sentiments
which I have ventured to lay before the public.
It would, however, be unreasonable and absurd
in me to expect that any assent should be given
to those sentiments, further than the arguments

446 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

adduced in their favour irresistibly demand ; and
if, after the deliberate and impartial consideration
which I am sure you are disposed to give them,
they have not produced the same conviction on
your mind as they have on my own, I can only
lament that the cause on which so much de-
pends has not met with a better advocate.

" To attempt to supply in a few words what I
have not been able to accomplish in many pages
would, I fear, be to no purpose ; and if I have
not already demonstrated, that a state of warfare
is more likely to induce our powerful enemy to
attempt the creation of a navy, and to afford him
the opportunities of forming experienced seamen,
than a state of peace, I have failed in one of
my principal objects. Even now the result
seems to me to be approaching with a celerity
which ought to attract the notice of this country
more than it has hitherto done ; and what is
more extraordinary, the commercial intercourse
between France and this country, which has of
late been extensive, has been carried on chiefly
by seamen belonging either to France or her
subject states ; and thus, with our usual wisdom,
whilst we are provoking or rather compelling
Bonaparte to form a navy, we are assisting him
in providing skilful navigators to man it, and
admitting them daily into our harbours and our
ports.

" You will, I hope, do me the justice to be-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 1 17

lieve that I am not one of those, who upon every
difference of opinion are ready to accuse the
motives of those who may differ from them, or
allow such difference to interfere with senti-
ments of the sincerest attachment and the
highest respect. If I were, the number of those
whom I am happy to call my friends would be
reduced to very few indeed. But even if I
were actuated by any such unjustifiable and
arrogant principle, it certainly could not operate
with respect to yourself, with whom I have
the pleasure of knowing that I agree in ah1 the
great points which are essential to the honour
and happiness of mankind : — in the love of
liberty ; the desire to communicate it univer-
sally ; the hatred of oppression and corruption ;
the desire of serving our country in the best
way we are able ; and, let me add what you so
kindly refer to, a similarity of studies and pur-
suits. These, my dear Sir, are surely sufficient
to cherish sentiments of kindness and of good-
will, and allow me to say, of friendship and
attachment between us, without unreasonably
expecting a similarity of opinion in every par-
ticular question, the decision on which must, as
you observe, depend on the different education,
connection, and habits, of those who judge upon
it. If, however, in such cases either party had
to apologise for the opinion he entertained, I

448 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

fear it would fall to my lot ; especially if it were
put to the vote of the country at large."

Whilst engaged in these political discussions,
an opportunity was afforded Mr. Roscoe of
enforcing his opinions amongst his own towns-
men. In the early part of the year 1808, Mr.
Rathbone and two other gentlemen had been
deputed, by some of the merchants of Liverpool,
to give their assistance to the opposition at that
time making to the Orders in Council respecting
neutrals ; an interference regarded with much
jealousy by another portion of the mercantile
community in that town. At the suggestion of
the latter, who were desirous of supporting the
government in the prosecution of the war, a re-
quisition was presented to the mayor, requesting
him to call a general meeting of the inhabitants
of the town to address his Majesty, and assure
him of their confidence in his present councils
and government. The object of the meeting
obviously was, under the pretext of expressing
confidence in the administration, to throw im-
pediments in the way of the parliamentary oppo-
sition then offering to the Orders in Council. An
address to the King having been moved by the
originators of the meeting, Mr. Roscoe pro-
posed an amendment, in which he expressed a
sentiment which he strongly felt, that no dif-
ference of opinion, as to the grounds or nature
of the war, ought to prevent or invalidate that

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

perfect union and concurrence of all parties
which was necessary to carry on the contest
with vigour and success. In ether respects the
amended address was of a pacific tendency.
" To these assurances we are led, as well by the
duty and loyalty which we owe to your Majesty,
as by a firm conviction, founded on your Ma-
jesty's constant and paternal regard to the wel-
fare of your subjects, that a war requiring such
unexampled sacrifices will not be protracted be-
yond the period that maybe necessary for securing
the honour and dignity of your crown and the
rights and interests of your people." The address
then submitted the propriety of terminating the
war entirely to the wisdom of the King, as the
sole constitutional judge, assuring his Majesty,
that until that period arrived, the petitioners
would spare no sacrifices in its prosecution.
The address and the amended address having
been put, the latter was most decisively carried
by a show of hands ; but the mayor, who pre-
sided, declaring that he could not ascertain the
respective numbers, an adjournment was pro-
posed from the Town Hall, in which the meet-
ing was held, to the more capacious area of the
Exchange Buildings. Before this could be
effected however, after a short consultation with
some of his friends around him, the mayor sud-
denly declared that the original address was
carried, A scene of great tumult and confusion
VOL. i. G G

4>50 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

ensued ; and notwithstanding the decision of the
chairman, the greater part of the meeting ad-
journed to the area of the Exchange, where the
amended address was read by Mr. Roscoe, and
voted by a majority of at least twenty to one.

In thus devoting his mind to political dis-
cussions, Mr. Roscoe flattered himself that his
labours were also subservient to the cause of
letters. In forwarding the two pamphlets which
he had lately published to Mr. Mathias, whose
sentiments on public affairs did not coincide
with his own, he expresses his hope that the
interests of literature, to which they were both
equally attached, might in the end be promoted
by these graver studies.

" That I should have troubled you with the
result of my political lucubrations may almost
seem to require an apology ; but as I should be
sorry to write any thing which I could not offer
to your perusal, so I relied on your favourable
construction,' in case of any difference of opinion
between us. Nor have my late employments
been so remote from my former objects and
studies as may at first sight appear. It is, I fear,
but too true, that this dreadful war, and the
outrages and calamities to which it gives rise,
have a strong tendency not only to increase and
perpetuate national prejudices and animosities,
but to extinguish all relish for literary pursuits.
In attempting, therefore, to infuse amongst my

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

countrymen a spirit of moderation and forbear-
ance, that may eventually lead to pacific senti-
ments, I feel a conviction, that I am labouring
at the only foundation on which the superstruc-
ture of national improvement can be built ; and
when to this I add, that not only the improve-
ment, but the honour, the interest, and the
safety of the country, appear to me to rest upon
the same basis, you will, I am sure, agree with
me, that under such impressions I could not
have remained silent, or have asserted my opi-
nions with less earnestness than I have done."

G G

CHAPTER XL

1809, 1810.

Mr. Roscoe resumes his literary studies — letter to the
Rev. W. P. Greswell — meditates a Life of Dr. Currie

— assists Mr. Cromek in preparing his Relics of Bums

— icrites the preface to the Gallery of British Portraits
— his enquiries into the History of Art during the middle
ages — projects a History of the Progress and Vicissitudes
of Literature and Art. — Death and character of Mr.
Rathbone. — Mr. Roscoe an active member of the African
Institution — communications to that Society — contro-
versy with Mr. George Harrison — letter to the Duke of
Gloucester. — Essay on the Right of Great Britain to
compel Foreign Nations to abolish the Slave Trade. —
Letter to the Duke of Gloucester. — Liberation of nine
negroes at Liverpool — thanks of the African Insti-
tution. — Publication of " Occasional Tracts on the
War"— Letter to Mr. Whitbread —Letter to Mr. Wil-
bet force. — Letter from Sir Philip Francis. — Publication
of " Observations on the Speech of Earl Grey." —
Letter from Mr. Whitbread. — Letter to Lord Erskine
— Letter to Dr. Aikin. — Letter from Sir S. Romilly.

— Mr. Roscoe3 's general opinions on peace. — Early
writings on the subject.

G G

455

CHAPTER XI.

FROM the tumult and anxiety of political con-
troversy Mr. Roscoe was happy to turn away,
and to resume those more congenial studies,
from which his mind had been now for some
time diverted. The prospect of a continued
war, and a conviction of the futility of all at-
tempts to give effect to more pacific sentiments,
induced him to abandon for the present his fruit-
less opposition. " Whilst you," he says in a
letter addressed to his friend Mr. Greswell,
" still continue to live, and converse with Horace
and Virgil, with Pico and Politiano, I have
launched out into the stormy ocean of politics,
and been assailed with all the artillery that the
advocates for war and desolation can bring to
bear upon me. Their attacks, however, neither
alter my opinions nor disturb my peace ; and
my only cause of regret is, that I have not been,
able to impress my own convictions more effect-
ually on the minds of my countrymen, so as to
have prevented, if possible, the calamities which
have since taken place, and of whicli it is impos-
G o 4

456 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

sible to see the termination. The rude recep-
tion which my advice has met with releases
me, however, unless I have a wish to become a
martyr, from further service ; and I begin the year
by devoting my leisure to pursuits more agree-
able to myself and less invidious to others, — to
the examination of such unpublished papers as I
have by me on various subjects, and to the in-
spection and arrangement of my drawings and
prints."

In the course of this year he meditated with
much earnestness the commencement of a work,
which his friends had long expected at his hands,
and which nothing but the urgency of public
affairs had prevented him from attempting, — a
Life of Dr. Currie. But the leisure which he
had promised himself he was deprived of by
circumstances which debarred him from the per-
formance of this grateful duty.

In the mean time, as the literary represent-
ative of Dr. Currie, he watched with solicitude
over the fame of Burns. Mr. Cromek, an en-
graver, and a devoted admirer of the poet,
having, with much industry, collected a num-
ber of Burns's letters, and some of his unpub-
lished poetical pieces, resolved to publish them as
a supplementary volume to the edition of the
works which had appeared under the superin-
tendence of Dr. Currie. Before taking this step,
however, he requested the advice of Mr. Roscoe j

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

who, after perusing the whole of his materials,
pointed out the pieces which, in his judgment,
were fitted for publication. The following letter
(April 9. 1808) to Messrs. Cadell and Davies,
the publishers of the intended volume, will show
how anxious he was that Mr. Cromek (in con-
formity with the maxim that an editor is bound
to suppress whatever the author himself would
have suppressed) should give to the world
nothing derogatory to the high character which
the genius of Burns had obtained.

" A short time after Mr. Cromek had begun
to print his volume of Burns, the proofs of the
first sheets were sent to me, when I was equally
surprised and sorry to see that the work opened
with some poems, of the admission of which I
very much doubt ; but which, in that situation,
would have given a very unfavourable idea of
the work. I immediately wrote to Mr. Cromek,
entreating him to stop the press till we had set-
tled this point, as well as some others, which I
had to remark to him. In consequence of this,
he got into the mail, and came to Allerton,
where we have gone over the whole work ; and
I am sorry to say that, in my opinion, the seven
sheets now printed must be cancelled, and the
work begun again, although it will undoubtedly
be attended with a very considerable expense.
This mistake lias arisen from a misapprehension ;
it having been settled by Mr. Cromek and me,

458 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

when he was last here, that the letters should be
printed in chronological order, and which I sup-
posed would be done ; but Mr. Cromek having
these poems of earlier date, thought it would be
proper to begin the book with them, and un-
luckily sent them to press before I knew of it.

" I am particularly anxious on this subject, as
I consider it a matter of great importance not
only to the character of the poet, but to the
credit and interest of those concerned in the
publication. Should any thing be admitted
which may give just ground for censure, it will
immediately be laid hold of, and the book will
be condemned as containing only worthless and
indecent fragments, which both the poet and
Dr. Currie had rejected; and not only would
this affect the sale of the work, but it would
also injure the character of Burns ; and, perhaps,
depreciate, in a considerable degree, his other
writings, for the property of which you have so
liberally paid. In avoiding any imputation of
this kind, the credit and interests of the author,
the editor, and the publishers, all unite ; and I
am truly happy to say that, in my judgment,
there is no danger of it whatever, if prudent
precautions be taken, which Mr. Cromek is not
only willing but anxious to do. The materials
are, in fact, excellent, and the more I examine
them the more I am convinced that they will
make a most interesting volume. Every thing is

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 459

now arranged for its being imm ediately put to press,
and the only circumstances to be regretted are
the loss of time and the expense already incurred."
— " I have only to add that I have undertaken to
arrange the materials for the preface, and shall
have great pleasure in attending to the progress
of the printing, as far as my distance from town
will allow, or rendering any other sendee which
you or Mr. Cromek may wish."

About this period Mr. Roscoe was induced,
at the earnest solicitations of his publishers,
Messrs. Cadell and Davies, to furnish them with
a preface for their magnificent volume, " The
Gallery of British Portraits," a work in the
course of which a portrait of himself, from a
miniature by Mr. Moses Houghton, was pub-
lished, accompanied by a short memoir.

While engaged in the political discussions of
which some account has been given in the last
chapter, Mr. Roscoe sought amusement and re-
lief in the prosecution of some literary enquiries
to which he had at various periods of his life
devoted a considerable share of attention. The
history of art, and the cause of the vicissitudes
of taste had furnished him with subjects for his
lectures before the Society for the Encourage-
ment of the Arts of Design, &c., in the year
1784, and after that period the same subjects
appear to have been frequently the objects of his
study. In the composition of the " Life of

460 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

Leo X." he was compelled to enter largely into
the history of the revival of art ; and it was pro-
bably this circumstance which suggested to him
the idea of a work upon which he bestowed
much labour, but which he never completed.

In a letter to Mr. William Smith, written soon
after the publication of the " Tracts on the
War," he says, —

" For a few days past I have sought for
shelter from discussions about war, and parlia-
mentary reform, and the bullion committee, which
have for some weeks past occupied my attention,
in the darkness of the middle ages ; where I am
endeavouring to trace out, amidst churches, and
cemeteries, and popes, and Goths, and Vandals,
the slender thread by which the arts of design
were continued through the storms and desolation
of this gloomy period. Of this subject I have
often thought, and for some years past have
collected memorials, as well in prints and draw-
ings as in books, respecting it ; and, although I
am aware that there is not much to be dis-
covered by the most diligent researches, yet I
have found enough to convince me that the
remarks of Vasari, Baldinucci, and other his-
torians of the arts, as to their total annihilation
before the time of Cimabue, are unfounded, and
that the subject deserves rather more attention
than has hitherto been paid to it; particularly
as it seems to me, that if the present system

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 461

of warfare and desolation continues, we shall
shortly have to plunge again into a similar gulf."
In a letter to Sir James Smith, written about
the same period, Mr. Roscoe says, " I am also
looking into the state of the arts during the
middle ages for a memoir, of which I have good
materials." The collecting of these materials
had been the study of many years ; and he ap-
pears at this time to have reduced them into
order, and to have prepared the greater part of
them for publication under the title of an " His-
torical Sketch of the State of the Arts during
the Middle Ages." Subsequently this design
was enlarged ; and he contemplated a much
more extended work, to which he intended to
give the title of " An Historical Inquiry into
the Rise, Progress, and Vicissitudes of Taste,
as exemplified in Works of Literature and of Art."
Of the nature of this work, which was to be
comprised in two volumes, an accurate idea may
be formed from the following heads of the chap-
ters which it was intended to contain : -

" Vol. I. chap. 1. Introductory Chapter on the
Causes of the Rise, Progress, and Vicissi-
tudes of Taste.

" 2. Origin of Taste, as exemplified in the
History of the earliest People.

" 3. On the State of Literature and Arts
anterior to their Rise in the Grecian
States.

46"2 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

" 4. State of Letters and Arts among the
Greeks.

" 5. Introduction of Works of Taste into
Rome, and Progress of Literature and
Art to the Death of Augustus.

" Vol. II. chap. 6. Progress and Vicissitudes of

Literature and Art to the Year 400.
" 7» Progress and Vicissitudes of Literature

and Art to the Year 1200.
" 8. Literature and Arts of the Arabs.
" 9- Progress and Vicissitudes of Literature

and Art to the Year 1400.
" 10. Progress of Literature and Art to the

Year 1500."

In another scheme of the work three addi-
tional chapters are inserted, on the Rise and
Progress of Literature and Art in Italy, France,
and England.

Of this extensive and interesting undertaking a
small portion only was executed. The third
and fourth chapters seem to be nearly complete,
and ample materials remain for the composition
of some other parts of the work. Those mate-
rials consist of various dissertations upon dif-
ferent branches of art ; — " On the Cultivation
of the Polite Arts and particularly those of
Painting and Design," written at an early
period; "On Painters' Drawings;" "On the
Practical Part of Painting ; " " On the German

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 463

Engravers ; " " On the Origin of Engraving in
Wood and on Copper;" together with several
detached memoirs of the Italian painters.

In the spring of the present year (1809)
Mr. Roscoe had the misfortune to lose his friend
Mr. Rathbone, with whom he had lived for
many years upon terms of the most confidential
intimacy and the most attached friendship. The
affection which had so long subsisted between
them arose from the congruity of their opinions
on all the most important subjects of human
judgment, and from the equal devotion of their
minds to objects of usefulness and benevolence.
The character of Mr. Rathbone was of the high-
est cast ; and it was ever the subject of deep
regret with those who knew and appreciated him,
that a genius, which might have shone with the
brighest lustre in the most extended sphere, was
restricted to comparative obscurity. The talents
for public life manifested by him on various oc-
casions, when he came forwards in support of
liberal principles, were of the first order. A
friend to peace, to toleration, and to improve-
ment, had he been placed in a situation where
scope could have been given to his lofty and
benevolent views, his name must have been for
ever associated with his country's happiness and
honour ; but confined to the narrow limits of a
private station, a man framed of the clay from
which in former days heroes and martyrs were

464 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

moulded, expended the strength which might
have ruled a nation, in contests, the recollection
of which has already past away. It must not,
however, be supposed, that the labours of such
a man were lost. The influence of a mind like
that of Mr. Rathbone, upon the community of
which he was a member, was necessarily great ;
and it is to the efforts of him, and of those who,
like him, in seasons of difficulty and danger,
openly avowed their adherence to the interests
of truth and freedom, that we may attribute the
progress since made in the cause of political
and social improvement. A short memoir of his
friend was written by Mr. Roscoe, and printed
in the Athenaeum, a periodical work, published
under the auspices of Dr. Aikin. * The follow-
ing is the sketch there given of Mr. Rathbone's
private character : — " True excellence is always
the more highly esteemed as it is the more
nearly approached and the more intimately

* " You will have heard with sorrow of the loss of our in-
valuable friend Rathbone, who bore his sufferings with the
patience of a martyr, and died with the fortitude of a hero.
His character was not only excellent but of a peculiar kind of
excellence, which, if accurately described, must render it
interesting. It is my intention to attempt a brief delineation
of it, for the ' Athenaeum,' which may perhaps occupy a page
or two ; and if you will have the goodness to reserve a space
for it in your obituary for the present month, I will take care
it shall be with you by the end of next week, or sooner if
necessary." — Mr. Roscoe to Dr. Aikin.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 465

known ; and notwithstanding the respect paid to
his acknowledged merits in public life, it was in
the social circle, and in the society of his family
and friends, that his character appears in the
most favourable aspect. On these occasions, it
was impossible not be struck with that soul of
benevolence which disclosed itself in every word
and look, and with that simplicity of manner
which indicated that he had not a thought to
conceal. As his views were extensive, and his
experience considerable, so the tenor of his con-
versation was always instructive ; and it may
most truly be said of him, that a word scarcely
ever escaped his lips that was not directed to
some benevolent purpose, — to impart pleasure,
to communicate knowledge, or to do good.
His person and appearance were strikingly im-
pressive, and conciliated attachment whilst they
inspired respect. His manner was peculiarly
natural and engaging; and throughout his dis-
course, the aptitude of his illustrations, and the
playfulness of his fancy, always confined within
the strictest bounds of propriety and decorum,
never failed to delight his hearers.

" For a long time, the declining state of Mr.
Rathbone's health had caused the most serious
apprehensions to his friends ; but a few months
since, his complaints attained a more alarming
form, and he had to struggle with sufferings
beyond what generally fall to the lot of humanity.

VOL. I. H II

466 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

If there be a spectacle on earth more pecttiiarly
deserving of admiration than any other, it is the
contemplation of a firm and a virtuous mind,
rising superior to corporeal sufferings, and shining
forth in all its lustre amidst the ruins of its
earthly frame.

" In the last period of the life of Mr. Rath-
bone, this spectacle was most eminently dis-
played. The moments that could be spared
from actual suffering were assiduously devoted
to the consolation of his affectionate family, and
the society of his friends, with whom he con-
versed on his approaching death, not only with
fortitude, but with cheerfulness. The faculties
of his mind were unimpaired to the last moment;
when, without a struggle, he resigned his spirit
into the hands of his Creator.

" Thrice happy ! who the blameless road along

Of honest praise hath reach'd the vale of death !
Around him, like ministrant cherubs, throng

His better actions — to the parting breath
Singing their blessed requiems ; he the while,

Gently reposing on some friendly breast,
Breathes out his benisons ; then, with a smile

Of soft complacence, lays him down to rest,

Calm as the slumbering infant."

It had been the custom of Mr. Rathbone to
inscribe, in a book devoted to that purpose, the
names of those of his family, whom he had lost
by death. In this volume, Mr. Roscoe has, in

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 4-67

his own hand, thus recorded the death of his
friend : —

" llth February, 1809.

" William Rathbone, died at nine o'clock in
the morning, aged 51 years and 8 months.

" This domestic record, which contains the
brief memorials of many of his beloved and re-
spected relatives, registered by his own hand,
and endeared by the warm expression of his
affection, now receives the honoured name of

WILLIAM RATHBONE,
Of Liverpool, Merchant.

a name which will ever be distinguished by in-
dependence, probity, and true benevolence, and
will remain as an example to his descendants, of
genuine piety, patient resignation, and of all
those virtues which give energy to a commu-
nity, adorn society, and are the delight of private
life.

" Through life beloved ! O let this votive line
Unite in death its author's name with thine.

" WILLIAM ROSCOE."

H H 2

468 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

In the following sonnet, also, he has recorded
the character and virtues of his friend : —

" SONNET ON THE DEATH OP MR. RATHBONE.

" Doom'd for a season to that frail disguise,
Whilst yet thy spirit felt its bonds of clay,
How through the gloom shone forth the imprison'd ray

Beam'd in thy smile and sparkled in thine eyes !

Prompting thee on to deeds of high emprise,
To plant thy foot athwart Oppression's way ;
To shield the weak, the sufferer's pangs allay,

And soothe the widow's woes, the orphan's cries.

Thy mission now is closed. The sacred flame
From earth released, in other worlds expands,

Midst the blest regions of eternal love.

O glorious hour ! when, midst her falling frame,
The imperishable soul superior stands,

Spurns her frail chain, and soars to realms above."

From the period when, in 1806, Mr. Roscoe
had assisted in founding the African Institution,
he had actively endeavoured on all occasions to
forward the objects of that association. Not
only did he maintain a frequent correspondence
with the President the Duke of Gloucester, and
with Mr. Zachary Macaulay the Secretary, in
which he offered many suggestions with regard
to their course of proceeding, and urged espe-
cially the great necessity of prevailing upon
foreign nations to abolish the Slave Trade ; but
he also zealously exerted himself in procuring

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 469

such information in Liverpool, as might tend to
prevent those fraudulent evasions of the Abolition
Act which for some years after its passing were
of too frequent occurrence.

Amongst the papers which he occasionally
communicated to the Institution was one, in the
shape of a letter to the Duke of Gloucester
(dated March 20, 1809), in which he urged the
necessity of encouraging a trade with Africa,
as one of the surest means of promoting the
civilisation of that country. Upon this letter,
which appeared in the Appendix to the third an-
nual Report of the Society, Mr. George Harrison, a
warm friend to the improvement of the Africans,
made some remarks, which were afterwards pub-
lished in a periodical work called the Philan-
thropist.* Amongst other observations this gen-
tleman expressed his apprehensions lest the
communication of Mr. Roscoe " might have
the effect of damping the hopes and disappoint-
ing the expectations of many warm well-wishers
to the cause of civilisation." To a charge like
this, publicly made, Mr. Roscoe conceived it to
be incumbent upon him to give some answer;
and accordingly, in the spring of 1811, he printed
a very short tract, under the title of a " Reply
to some Remarks by George Harrison, on a
Communication from William Roscoe to the

* No. II., Jan. 1. 1811.
H H 3

470 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

Duke of Gloucester, President of the African
Institution, dated March 20, 1809."

In this little tract he defends (what seems
scarcely to have required defence) the pro-
position, that in attempting to civilise the na-
tives of Africa the greatest assistance would be
derived from a friendly and honourable traffic
with them; " that whilst proper methods were
adopted for civilising and instructing the in-
habitants of Africa, the peaceful and friendly
interchange of the conveniences and necessaries
of life might assist in rousing their faculties to
action, and engaging them by the most power-
ful principle in human nature to contribute to
their own improvement." — " In the consider-
ation of this question it would have been incum-
bent on Mr. Harrison to have shown, from the
history of past events, that countries in a state of
barbarism have been civilised by persons sent as
professed instructors ; and to have demonstrated,
on the other hand, that the production and
interchange of the necessaries of life had no
share, or at least a very inferior share, in pro-
ducing that civilisation which has extended over
no inconsiderable portion of the globe."

On the subject of this controversy he ad-
dressed the following letter to the Duke of
Gloucester, as President of the African Insti-
tution.

" Your Royal Highness will, I trust, excuse

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 4-71

the liberty I have taken in enclosing, for your
perusal, a brief reply to some remarks made by
Mr. George Harrison, one of the Directors of
the African Institution, in a letter which I had
the honour to address to your Royal Highness
in 1809, and of which the Institution published
an extract in their report for that year.

" I confess, that as far as these remarks relate
to myself, they appear, from his own statement,
to be so unfounded, that I should willingly have
left the decision to the candid judgment of his
readers, but on further consideration, it appeared
to me, that the sentiments avowed by Mr. Har-
rison were not only inconsistent with those en-
lightened views upon which the Institution has
hitherto acted, but likely to prove injurious to
the best interests of those for whose benefit it
was established. In fact, a considerable degree
of prejudice seems to prevail against all those
who have engaged in a direct and legitimate
trade with Africa, although their motives and
conduct are as different from those of their pre-
decessors as light from darkness, and the exist-
ence of such an intercourse is indispensably
necessary to the civilisation of those countries.

" An idea has, I find, been entertained, that
I had myself engaged in this trade ; but, in fact,
I never had in my life any share or concern in
any ship or adventure. My second son is, in-
deed, a partner in a mercantile house in Liver-
H H 4

472 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

pool, which has sent out three ships direct from
Liverpool to the coast, two of which returned
last year, and the third is daily expected ; but
with this voyage, I understand, their undertaking
will close ; as the duties upon African produce
are such that it cannot be imported with advan-
tage.

" Anxious as I am that every measure should
be adopted that may eradicate the traffic for
slaves, I cannot perceive that the regulations
now proposed to parliament for that purpose
will be more effectual than those which preceded
them. The former act has been evaded, not
because of the inadequacy of the penalties, but
because of the difficulty of conviction, in an in-
tercourse which can be carried on between the
coast of Africa and foreign ports, though with
the property and for the use of British subjects.

" To increase these penalties will, therefore,
only induce the slave-dealers to redouble their
precautions ; and if they have not been convicted
when punishable only by fine, they will certainly
not be convicted when punishable by transport-
ation or death. I have already too far intruded
on your Royal Highness's indulgence on this
subject, but I cannot relinquish my decided con-
viction, that it is only by one great and virtuous
effort that the slave trade can be effectually
abolished, and until it can be demonstrated that
power is improperly exercised when employed

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 473

in restraining inhumanity and oppression, I am
compelled to retain my opinion.

" Should the enclosed paper accord with the
sentiments entertained by your Royal Highness
on the subject in discussion, it will give me the
greatest satisfaction."

The subject adverted to at the conclusion of
the foregoing letter had occupied much of Mr.
Roscoe's attention. After the abolition of the
slave trade by Great Britain, other states still
continued to carry it on, and under the protec-
tion of their flags, British subjects, in many
instances, were still engaged in the traffic. The
consequence of this was, that the natives of
Africa were deprived of the full benefit of the
sacrifice made by this country, and that all hopes
of permanently improving their condition were
at an end, so long as the European nations were
permitted to carry on the traffic for slaves. It
therefore became a matter of the highest im-
portance to ascertain the right of this country
to interfere with other nations, and to insist
upon the abandonment of a trade contrary to
the first principles of humanity and justice.
This inquiry, involving a consideration of the
great principles of general and international
law, Mr. Roscoe entered upon with much in-
dustry and solicitude, and the result was a
Dissertation of considerable length " on the
Right of Great Britain to prevent other Nations

474 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

from carrying on the Slave Trade." The great-
est care and the most diligent research appear
to have been bestowed on this paper, which pre-
sents an irresistible argument in favour of the
right contended for, and is, perhaps, the most
closely-reasoned of all Mr. Roscoe's writings.
It displays, at the same time, that animated
style, which always distinguished his composi-
tions when his heart was deeply engaged. After
stating that it was probable that the remon-
strances of this country might produce the de-
sired result without resort being had to coercive
measures, he thus proceeds : —

" By such representations as these, conveyed
in that firm and temperate language which be-
comes a powerful nation, acting in a just and
generous cause, there can be no doubt that all
reasons for hostility would be avoided, and that
the object would be accomplished not only with-
out injury and without danger, but with the
highest honour to this country. If, however,
these expectations should be disappointed ; if
motives of pride, of obstinacy, or of interest, a
predilection for tyranny and oppression, and an
insatiable thirst of African blood, should frus-
trate the pacific efforts of this country to relieve
the injured from the jaws of the oppressor, and
to deliver him that is ready to perish, let her
rise in her terrors, and repress the impious rage
of the enemies of their kind. Let her venge-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 475

ance be directed on those whom no admonition
can convince, no example influence, no consi-
derations of justice or of humanity restrain, till
the objects of her resentment furnish to pos-
terity an awful lesson, that the general rights
and privileges of human society cannot, with
impunity, be trampled under foot."

How deeply he was interested in this subject
appears by the following letter to the Duke of
Gloucester, to whom he communicated the dis-
sertation.

" I now perform a promise, which I some
time since made to your Royal Highness, and
take the liberty of submitting to you the result
of my further thoughts on the means that yet
remain to be adopted for terminating the African
slave trade. The ideas principally intended to
be illustrated are, the necessity of the imme-
diate interference of this country to induce
foreign states to assent to its abolition, and the
propriety and justice in case of refusal, of cap-
turing all such vessels, of whatever country, as
may be found engaged in the trade. Your
Royal Highness will, perhaps, recollect that
this idea was first started in a conversation which
I had the honour to have with you at High
Legh, and it seemed to me at that time to be a
consequence of some observations which your
Royal Highness had made on the subject I
afterwards reconsidered an assertion, which, I

4-76 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

feared, had been too hastily made, but which
further deliberation confirmed ; and I have now
the satisfaction to know, that on the principal
point of the abstract right of this country to
prevent other nations from carrying on the trade,
your Royal Highness entirely coincides.

" The question of the expediency of such an
interference, under present circumstances, as it
involves the deepest considerations of national
interest, is of more difficult solution, and on
this account I postponed, in my last communi-
cation to your Royal Highness, entering upon
its consideration, under an apprehension that a
hasty and imperfect defence of it might rather
injure than promote a cause on which so much
depends. Since that time, I have deliberately
reconsidered my former statement, and compared
it with the opinions of the principal writers on
general law, and the pages I now transmit to
your Royal Highness are the result of this con-
sideration. I cannot but be sensible, that the
proposing any measures which may possibly
tend to increase the causes of hostility between
nations, unless such measures be indispensably
necessary, is highly culpable, and I should
consider myself as acting in contradiction to
every principle and feeling of my life, if I were
to place myself in such a predicament. But,
greatly as I deprecate it, and thoroughly con-
vinced as I am that war is often resorted to

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 477

upon insufficient and even criminal grounds,
I cannot admit that the dearest and most indis-
putable privileges of the human race are to be
abandoned to the caprice, the tyranny, or the
avarice of those, who, in the plenitude of their
power, may think proper to trample upon them.
War, when engaged in for the defence of liberty,
the vindication of justice, or the succour of the
oppressed, is not only allowable, but when it
can be waged with a reasonable prospect of suc-
cess, is indispensable ; and if it were not for
this eternal and unshaken resistance of right to
wrong, this rising up of justice, to crush and
put down oppression, the interests of the human
race would be surrendered, and their destinies
decided upon by the most cruel, the most odious,
and the most profligate of their kind."

In the year 1809 Mr. Roscoe was so fortunate
as to receive the thanks of the African Institution,
for his services in assisting to rescue some Ne-
groes from an attempt to re-capture them in this
country. A Brazilian vessel, called the Monte
de Carino, under the command of a person whose
name was Joze Antonio Cardozo, having arrived
at the port of Liverpool, nine of the crew, who
were Negroes, and had been slaves in Brazil,
were immediately arrested under process from
the Borough Court of Liverpool, at the suit of
the captain, Cardozo, and lodged in the borough
gaol. The affidavit of "debt, upon which this

478 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

process was founded, stated that these men were
indebted to the plaintiff for advances of money.
They were carried, in handcuffs, to the prison,
where they remained for about a month ; when
the ship, being ready for sea, the captain, at-
tended by his attorney and a gang of men, went
to the gaol and produced discharges for all the
prisoners from his suit. The unfortunate cap-
tives, aware that on their release from confine-
ment they should be hurried on board ship and
carried out again as slaves, refused to quit the
prison ; their fellow-prisoners declared that they
would protect them ; and the gaoler, with a hu-
manity which did him credit, afforded them the
protection of the prison walls. These circum-
stances reaching the ears of Mr. Roscoe, an im-
mediate inquiry was instituted into them ; bail
was, by his direction, put in, in all the actions ;
and, with the assistance of the magistrates of the
town, who acted with alacrity in the affair, such
proceedings were taken as effectually secured the
freedom of the Negroes. Mr. Roscoe's exertions
on this occasion procured him the thanks of the
African Institution, conveyed to him in the fol-
lowing resolutions : —

" At a meeting of the Directors of the African
Institution, on the 5th December, 1809, —
" A letter from Mr. Roscoe to the Secretary,

dated the 22d November, 1809, having been read,

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 479

" It was unanimously resolved,
" That the thanks of this Committee, in the
name of the African Institution, be given to
Mr. Roscoe for his humane and successful inter-
position on behalf of nine black men, lately con-
fined in the borough gaol of Liverpool by process
for debt sued out by a Portuguese ship-master,
with the purpose of securing them till he should
be ready to sail, and then forcibly carrying them
into slavery. The Committee congratulate Mr.
Roscoe on his having thus been the instrument
of delivering nine human beings from the dread-
ful state of Negro slavery, and vindicating at the
same time the justice of the British laws, which
were fraudulently abused for purposes of op-
pression. The Committee also request the favour
of Mr. Roscoe to communicate the thanks of the
Institution to Messrs. Stanistreet and Avison,
whose humane and liberal conduct and assistance
in this business he acknowledges ; and also to the
keeper of the prison, by whose humanity the
fraudulent and iniquitous purpose of the Portu-
guese master and his accomplices was frustrated,
when it might otherwise have been carried into
effect. The Secretary, in communicating this
resolution, is requested further to thank Mr.
Roscoe for his remarks on the general means of
effecting more fully the abolition of the Slave
Trade."

480 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

Though Mr. Roscoe seems to have made a
resolution, after the publication of his pamphlets
on the war, in 1808, to renounce, as vain, the
attempt to promote the cause of peace, yet the
interest with which he viewed the subject would
not permit him to remain a passive spectator of
the events around him. He determined to make
one effort more to enforce the opinions which he
deemed so essential to the safety of the country ;
and with this view he collected and published,
in one volume, the various tracts which, since
the commencement of the French war, he had
given to the world in favour of peace. This
collection contained three pamphlets, already
noticed, which he had published anonymously :
— " Thoughts on the Causes of the present
Failures : " " Strictures on Mr. Burke's two
Letters, addressed to a Member of the present
Parliament ; " and " Observations on the re-
lative Situation of Great Britain and France."
To these were added the two pamphlets pub-
lished in 1808, of which some account has
been given: — " Considerations on the Causes,
Objects, and Consequences of the present War,
and on the Expediency or Danger of Peace
with France ;" and "Remarks on the Proposals
made to Great Britain for opening Negotia-
tions for Peace in 180y." The volume con-
cludes with " Brief Observations on the Ad-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 481

dress to his Majesty, proposed by Earl Grey in
the House of Lords, June 13. 1810." * " Of the
following tracts," he says in the advertisement to
the volume, " the three first were published
without the name of the author, at the times of
their respective dates. In thus uniting them
with his later pieces, his chief object is to recal
the public attention to the awful subject which
they profess to discuss, and, if possible, to im-
press upon others those convictions which the
occurrences of the last eighteen years have pro-
duced and confirmed in his own mind. How far
his statements and reasonings have been justified
by subsequent events, the present state of Europe
in general, and of this country in particular, may
sufficiently show. But whatever reception this
volume may meet with, the author has thought
proper to avow all that he has at any time written
on this subject, and to commit it, as far as in his
power, to future times, as an appeal against the
promoters of a war, as unjust in its principle as
it has been sanguinary in its progress and ca-
lamitous in its result."

That his expectations of making any impres-
sion upon the country by his arguments were
very humble, appears from the following extract
from a letter to Mr. Whitbread, written shortly
before the publication of his " Tracts."

* Post, p. 487.

VOL. I. II

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

" Having, at different periods since 1793,
published my sentiments on the subject of the
war (some of the earlier tracts anonymously), I
have lately collected together and reprinted
these pieces in an octavo volume, of which I
hope soon to have the pleasure of sending you
a copy. Should you ever find leisure to look
into these melancholy and fruitless labours, I
trust at least you will find nothing in the earlier
part of them inconsistent with the latter, — a
kind of merit which, in these days, must from
its very rarity be of some value."

In a letter to Mr. William Taylor, of Norwich,
he says, " How little I expect from these efforts
I need scarcely state to you. The question of
peace or war is long since gone by. There
may, indeed, be some shades of difference in
opinion as to the best mode of prosecuting the
war ; but, in the necessity of its continuance,
all are agreed, — ministerialists, oppositionists,
and reformers. The favourite doctrine of the
latter is * that peace can only be substantially
obtained through the medium of reform.' I hold
the converse of this to be true, and that no re-
form is likely to take place while we have to
contend with a foreign enemy. Experience,
ancient and modern, has shown, that, in pro-
portion as nations have been endangered by
war, their governments have become more des-
potic. This effect is inevitable. The foreign

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 483

enemy must be kept out, and for this end the
ruling powers must be strongly supported. When
the storm blows hard, however the crew may
quarrel, the first consideration will be to take
care that the vessel does not drive on a rock."

To Mr. Wilberforce he expressed, in the fol-
lowing letter, the painful feelings with which he
regarded the continuance of the war, and the
impossibility of giving a more pacific tone to the
public mind : —

" Accept my thanks for the few lines with
which you were so good as to honour me on the
receipt of a copy of my Tracts on the War. I
know of no right that I have to intrude upon
you with opinions in which, I fear, you cannot
agree ; but I was desirous you should see that the
pacific sentiments which I have of late avowed,
and which have drawn down upon me so much
odium and misrepresentation, are not new to my
mind ; but are the result of a serious and de-
liberate conviction, maintained through all the
changes and fluctuations of the contest, and
founded on a sincere and earnest desire to pro-
mote the interests and happiness of my country.
I had certainly, at times, flattered myself with
hopes that these efforts might have contributed
to much more important purposes ; but the ob-
loquy I have met with from some quarters, and
the neglect I have experienced from the com-
munity at large, have but too feelingly convini-cd
i i 2

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

me of the inefficacy of my attempts, and in-
duced me to lament, with more anguish than I
can express, that such a cause has not fallen into
abler hands, and been felt and promoted, as I
conceive it was entitled to have been, by those
enlightened friends of humanity whose exertions
and whose eloquence could not have failed of
success. Disappointed in my expectations, I
have chastised my mind into submission ; and
though I should be truly sorry to forfeit the fa-
vourable regard of many persons whom I venerate
and esteem, shall console myself with the re-
flection, that what I have done was intended for
the best.

" But I have already said more to you on this
subject in the way of complaint than I have ever
said to any other person ; and I will not, there-
fore, conceal from you that, in a general view,
I am tranquillised and consoled by the reflection
that the Great Disposer of events stands in need
of no such feeble aid as any of his creatures can
give, for accomplishing any purpose which he
may in the course of his providence see proper
to carry into effect ; and that, therefore, to la-
ment the failure of our individual efforts is equally
wicked and presumptuous."

In the same tone of depression, or rather of
resignation to evils which he had no power to
remove, he addressed Sir Philip Francis, from
whom he received the following answer : —

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 485

" I am not surprised at your giving up all hope
of the country, much less at your intention to
withdraw yourself from political discussion. An
author whom I greatly respect has told me
' that in all ages the rage of popular violence
has been principally directed against the best
friends and benefactors of mankind.' So, if you
are fortunate enough to escape unpunished from
the public service, you must be satisfied with
impunity, and consider it as a reward. There
may, probably, be an exception in your favour,
but the general rules of human justice are
against you. The only traveller I know of
whose veracity is not to be suspected, informs
us that, in the island of Glufydubdrib, he had an
opportunity of conversing with the spirits of the
dead ; and he says, that * having read of some
great services done to princes and states, he de-
sired to see the persons by whom those services
were performed. On enquiry, he was told that
their names were to be found on no record, ex-
cept a few of them whom history hath represented
as the vilest rogues and traitors. As to the rest,
he had never once heard of them. They all ap-
peared with dejected looks, and in the meanest
habit ; most of them telling him they died in
poverty and disgrace, and the rest of them on a
scaffold or a gibbet.' Nevertheless, if you be-
lieve, as I do, that great faculties are given in
trust, and that duty may survive hope, I cannot
i i 3

486 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

allow you to quit your station. The very worst
of all the symptoms in the present case, is the
universal indifference of the country to the dan-
gers that surround it. Something must be done
to rouse the people and bring them to their
senses ; and I, for one, shall look to you for some
great contribution to that service. While I am
here at Lord Thanet's, I shall read and study all
your tracts again. You cannot give me wealth
or power ; but you can, and shall, give in-
struction. I will not suffer you to forget me, if
I can help it. I would rather have accompanied
Charles Fox to his grave, and into it, egenus et
exul uterque, than have been witness to what I
heard and saw in the last six months of his life.
He missed the moment — e curru descendens
Teutonico. He might have commanded, as you
will do, his own Euthanasia. To my knowledge,
more than twenty years of his life were heroic.
Farewell, dear sir ; do not yet despair of the
Republic."

While the collection of tracts on the war was
in the press, an address to the King was moved
by Earl Grey in the House of Lords, on the
subject of the war, which left little hope of peace
from the exertions of any party in this country.
The advocates of peace had gradually deserted
her ranks, till at length Lord Liverpool tri-
umphantly declared, that whatever difference of
opinion formerly existed on the subject of the

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 487

war, he believed, amongst all sober and rational
men, but little contrariety of sentiment remained.
Some few there were, however, who despising
these imputations, still continued faithful to their
principles, and amongst these Mr. Roscoe was
conspicuous. In Parliament Mr. Whitbread,
with honourable consistency, still raised his voice
in the cause he had so long and so ably supported.
" I much fear," he says in a letter to Mr. Roscoe
on the publication of his Collection of Tracts,
" that the friends of peace are daily diminishing,
and that the advocates for war are gaining pro-
selytes. However small the band, I continue
firmly attached to the standard, and am happy
to have this additional proof that I have so able
an associate."

The motion of Lord Grey occasioned the
deepest feelings of regret in the mind of Mr.
Roscoe. He saw those to whom alone he could
look for support, yielding to the torrent which
he had vainly endeavoured to stem; yet even
this circumstance did not lead him to forego
his own individual efforts in the cause lie lovol.
Anxious to counteract, as far as lay in his own
power, the effect of Lord Grey's motion, he im-
mediately sent to press a short pamphlet, to
which he gave the title of " Brief Observations
on the Address to his Majesty, proposed by Karl
Grey, in the House of Lords, 13th June, 1810,"
which he printed also at the conclusion of hi>
i i 4

488 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

Tracts on the War. In this publication he en-
deavours to show, that so far from peace being
rendered less desirable, the progress of the war
had demonstrated the still greater necessity of
it, and he exposes the unreasonableness of those
who were desirous of persisting in the war, lest
France should take advantage of an interval of
peace to increase her resources and augment
her power. The low-minded jealousy which
leads one nation to dread the prosperity of an-
other is thus justly reprobated : —

" The Creator of the universe has not so dis-
posed his works that the prosperity or aggran-
disement of one state must necessarily imply the
debasement or misfortune of another ; and the
two great communities of Great Britain and
France are not less calculated to assist each
other in the cause of national honour and feli-
city, than they are to oppose each other by arms
and violence. It must, however, unhappily be
admitted, that so fortunate a result must be the
offspring of more generous sentiments and more
enlightened views, than are at present to be
expected from the recent conduct of either of
those two powerful countries ; and that until
such an event takes place, it will be incumbent
on us, by every fair and justifiable effort, to main-
tain ourselves upon an equality at least with our
rival state ; but it would be no less criminal than
it would be absurd to suppose, that the mere

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 489

superiority of one state is a sufficient ground for
the permanent hostility of another. In the
community of nations as in that of individuals,
Providence has determined that there shall be
degrees of pre-eminence ; and it is no more
justifiable to attack a nation by war, on account
only of its superior strength or greatness, than
it would be in private life to assassinate every
person of higher rank than ourselves. It is only
by industry, by integrity, by knowledge, by the
encouragement of enlarged and virtuous senti-
ments, by the cultivation of the human mind in
every department of science and of art, that we
ought to contend for superiority over others. It
is by such contests only that the human race
can be effectually improved, and it is these
alone that counteract the calamities which the
brutal struggles of physical strength have hi-
therto inflicted upon mankind."

Upon the scheme of a defensive and pro-
tracted warfare, to which Lord Grey appeared
to be favourable, Mr. Roscoe observes, " That
war, under every form, is an evil greatly to be
deprecated will readily be allowed: but when
the passions are irritated by wrongs, and inflamed
by resentment ; when to these are superadded
the love of glory and the thirst of revenge, we
feel, from the sentiments of our common nature,
a sympathy with those who engage in the con-
test, which, in victory, elevates and expands,

490 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

and even amidst defeat and slaughter, soothes
and consoles the mind : but when these incen-
tives are withdrawn ; when the courage and
ardour of the soldier are extinguished for a cold,
calculating, and inextinguishable hatred ; when
valour and enterprise, the shock of armies and the
tented field, are no more, and a nation of warriors
devotes itself to lie in wait for opportunities to
attack the enemy with advantage, and to protract
the calamities of war, — we sicken at the cheerless
and deathlike prospect, and feel no emotions
but those of horror and disgust.

" From the infirmities of our nature, war, as
an ultimate appeal, is at times inevitable ; but the
common interest and the common consent of man-
kind require that the struggle should be speedy
and decisive, and that the miseries of those who
suffer by its consequences, without being partakers
in its guilt, should not be unnecessarily pro-
longed. The thunder may roll, and the bolt may
fall; but when the storm is passed, let us hope once
more to see the atmosphere clear, and to enjoy
the brightness of day. The calamities of the phy-
sical world are temporary. Earthquakes, plagues,
and tempests have their season ; but a protracted
warfare is a perpetual earthquake, a perpetual
pestilence, a perpetual storm ; and to propose
to any people the adoption of such a system, is
to propose that they should resolve, not only to
live in sorrow, in wretchedness, and in peril

LIFE OP WILLIAM ROSCOE. 4,91

themselves, but to entail the same calamities on
their descendants."

Such were the sentiments which Mr. Roscoe
wished to substitute for the violent, unjust, and
destructive maxims, by which, at that time, the
Government of this country were swayed. But
these sentiments, as he himself truly said, were
given to the winds ; and the resources of the
country were taxed to their utmost to support
the sanguinary struggle.

In transmitting this pamphlet to Lord Erskine,
he accompanied it with the following letter : —

" The decided opposition which your Lord-
ship has uniformly shown to the war with
France, from its unhappy commencement in
1793 to the present time, and the great and
patriotic effects which you have repeatedly made
to terminate so disastrous a contest, induce me
to intrude upon you with a short publication,
in reply to such part of Earl Grey's speech in
the House of Lords, on the 13th June last, as
relates to the subject of peace.

" Your Lordship will readily believe that it is
not without great regret that I have undertaken
thus publicly to controvert the opinions of one
whom I so highly respect as Earl Grey, and
that in this instance I fully participate in the
feelings expressed by your Lordship on the
debate ; but I know your Lordship would be
the last man to suppose that any motives of this

492 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

nature ought to interfere with that imperative
duty, which not only authorises but commands
every individual, who conceives that he has any
thing to advance that may serve the interests of
his country, to state it freely and fully, without
regard either to enmity or favour, and regulated
only by the rules of decorum and the limits of
the law.

" At the time the debate took place, I had
collected together a few tracts which I had
published at different times, from the year 1793,
on the subject of the war, and reprinted them in
one octavo volume, which was just ready for
publication, when the unexpected avowal of
Lord Grey's sentiments, including the express
assent of Lord Grey in favour of the prosecution
of an indefinite war, deprived me of the hope
of producing the slightest effect upon the public
by any arguments which had been before ad-
vanced. I therefore thought it incumbent on
me to obviate, as far as was in my power, any
thing that might appear like new reasons for the
continuance of hostilities ; and if in this I have
not been able to succeed, I am well convinced
it is not because of the validity of such reasons,
but of the inability of their opposer."

The public mind had become averse to the
idea of peace, and Mr. Roscoe had to regret the
little effect which his pamphlet appeared to pro-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 493

duce, — a circumstance which he has touched
upon in the following letter to Dr. Aikin : —

" How I can have delayed so long to thank
you for your last kind letter, appears to me per-
fectly unaccountable. It is natural in sickness
to reflect on our sins, and in the course of a ten
days' confinement, I vowed to St. Cosmus and
St. Damienus, that as soon as I was able to hold
a pen I would employ it in writing to you, and
telling you how much I was gratified in finding
that the observations I had ventured to publish
on Lord Grey's speech coincided so nearly with
your own sentiments. This vow I now perform,
and assure you most sincerely, that nothing
could have been more gratifying to me than to
find my statements approved by one who can
look with an impartial eye, not only on the
politics and parties of one country, but on the
relative situation, conduct, and pretensions of all.
It is to such critics alone that I confess I should
wish to appeal ; but, as they are of rare occur-
rence, I must not be surprised that this last
effort should share the fate of all the rest of the
same nature, and should be equally disregarded
by those who are in and those who are out of
office; by the friends of corruption and the
friends of reform ; all of whom labour on in their
purblind occupations with as obstinate a blind-
ness to all general views, as if they had no more

494 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

concern with the rest of the world, and cared no
more for the destruction of our countrymen and
the desolation of Europe, than they would for a
war in the interior of Africa."

From Sir Samuel Romilly, to whom he had
presented a copy of his " Observations," he re-
ceived the following letter : —

" I return you many thanks for your * Ob-
servations on Lord Grey's Address.' I have
read them with the greatest interest. To all
your general reasonings I entirely agree ; and I
have been very much struck with the great force
and irresistible eloquence of the concluding pas-
sages. I cannot, however, but confess to you,
that the present state of Spain appears to me to
throw very great difficulty in the way of making
an immediate peace. I agree that there seems
very little prospect of the Spaniards succeeding
ultimately against their oppressors ; but as long
as there is a possibility of their success, I cannot
think that we ought, by abandoning them, to
seal their doom.* It is very true, that in an
answer to Lord Grey, it was by no means neces-
sary to discuss this difficulty, but I own I should
have been extremely glad to have seen how you
had considered it.

" I am very highly gratified by the kind
things you say of me, and of the late unsuc-

* Mr. Roscoe's sentiments on this question have been
stated in a previous page.

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

cessful attempts I have made to introduce some
improvements into our criminal law. I greatly
lament that they cannot have your powerful
support in parliament, and that the distance we
are removed from each other leaves me so little
opportunity of cultivating your friendship, on
which I shall always set the highest value."

With this tract terminated Mr. Roscoe's pub-
lications against the war, which had appeared at
intervals, during the course of nearly twenty
years. The motives by which he had been ac-
tuated in these long-continued endeavours to
prevent the effusion of blood, were founded not
only upon principles of political expediency, but
upon more extended views of human conduct.
He regarded war as one of the worst of human
evils, not only inconsistent with the interests of
mankind, but in direct opposition to those
Christian precepts by which the nations of
Europe profess to be governed. Yet the peace
which was the ardent object of Mr. Roscoe's
wishes, was far from being the peace which is
coveted by the timid or the servile : it was the
peace which arises from the removal, by the ex-
ercise of reason and of justice, of all the causes
of contention — the peace which coexists with
freedom, with honour, and with virtue.

In a short paper, written apparently about the
year 1790, to which Mr. Roscoe had given the
form of a sermon, and prefixed the text of

496 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

" Blessed are the peace-makers," he has defined
his own idea of those qualities in which the
character of a peace-maker consists. This
discourse, never intended to meet the public eye,
exhibits so forcibly and clearly the principles
which were the invisible spring of the unyielding
and undaunted perseverance, and even perti-
nacity, with which, in despite of all opposition
and obloquy, he continued to hold and assert
his views on the subject of the war, that the
following extracts will perhaps not be thought
misplaced.

" That the peace-maker is in .a high degree
acceptable to the Supreme Being, is evident
from the positive assurance of our Saviour ;
but, . in endeavouring to obtain this honourable
distinction, it is indispensably requisite that we
should form proper notions of the character and
office of a peace-maker, for until we know its
proper scope and aim, our endeavours to attain
it will be to no purpose. In all our concerns
we should take care that we distinguish the
mark before we draw the bow, and we shall
then be sure our exertions, be they what they
may, are not misdirected.

" Accustomed as we are to confine our views
to the little circle that surrounds us, we often
lose, or, at least, weaken, the spirit and purport
of the moral precepts of our Saviour. Instead
of taking them in the full extent in which lie

LIFE OF WILLIAM HOSCOE. 4(J7

undoubtedly meant that they should be under-
stood, we childishly apply them to trivial pur-
poses and occasions. It is thus that the term
of Charity t that prime spring of moral virtue,
which inculcates forbearance, good-will, bene-
volence, and kindness to all the race of man,
is often confined to mere pecuniary assistance,
or the giving of a trivial alms ; but envy, resent-
ment, haughtiness, and pride, are as inconsistent
with true charity as avarice itself. In like man-
ner, when we speak of the Peace-maker, we are
apt to consider him as one who bestows his time
and attention in healing the little breaches that,
in the common intercourse of life, may arise
between those around him. But though this
be, in some cases, a very meritorious employ-
ment, it is far short of that exalted virtue which
has entitled its possessor to the appellation of
blessed, from the mouth of Jesus Christ Let
us, then, endeavour to extend our views beyond
these narrow limits, and to acquire more suit-
able notions of the dignity and importance of
the character which is here recommended to
our attention.

" Nothing can be more clear, than that he
who employs his time and labour in reconciling
those who are at variance, without removing the
cause of contention, has ill performed the office
he undertook, — such reconciliations, houv\n
sincere they may be in appearance, are seldom

VOL. i. K K

498 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

of long continuance. To remove, then, if it
were possible, all causes of contention from the
face of the earth, is the great office of a peace-
maker. And though this will not be in the
power of any individual ; yet it is only by at-
tending to this view of his duty, that he will be
able to do any considerable portion of that great
good. Nay, it is, on the contrary, very possible,
that instead of being of service to his fellow-
creatures upon the whole, he may, notwithstand-
ing the sincerity of his endeavours, be doing
them, upon some occasions, an essential injury.
To explain more fully this important point, let
me suppose that a disagreement has arisen in
consequence of some civil or political law or
regulation, that is evidently vague, imperfect,
severe, or unjust. It may seem the part of a
peace-maker to accommodate, to soothe, and to
suppress the differences to which such a law
may have given rise, and to unite in harmony
the discordant parties. But is this attacking
the evil at its root ? Had the mediator a proper
idea of his office, he would endeavour not only
to reconcile the particular quarrel to which he
was a witness, but to have the law in question
amended, explained, or abrogated ; so as to pre-
vent, in future, similar dissensions. Omitting
this, he has only cut off a shoot from a tree that
will send out a hundred others ; and so far from
being of service to mankind, has, perhaps, pro-

LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

longed the abuse, by concealing from the eye of
the world its hateful effects.

" Who, then, is the true peace-maker? Not
he who, sitting in voluptuous apathy, exclaims
against every attempt to improve society, and
remove the causes of contention, as an infringe-
ment on the doctrines of peace. Not he whose
mild and timid disposition leads him to soften,
to soothe, and to accommodate the dissensions
that may sometimes occur, by prevailing on the
unjust man to relax his harsh pretensions, or
on the oppressed to submit to his further op-
pression.

" These are neither peace-makers, nor the
true friends of peace.

" But, blessed is the man who, with unde-
viating rectitude, endeavours to procure for
every one that to which he is justly and indis-
putably entitled; who, instead of reconciling
the master to the slave, dissolves the odious
relation ; who, instead of teaching to one sect
of religion, principles of toleration, and incul-
cating on others a factitious gratitude, contends
for an universal liberty of sentiment ; who, in a
nation whose high privileges are reserved to
one class of its inhabitants and refused to others,
instead of exhorting the injured to acquiesce in
their deprivations, adopts every firm and manly
method of abolishing such absurd distinctions,
and thereby placing all around him upon a just
K K 2

500 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE.

and equal footing; and for ever removes those
degrading, wicked, and preposterous regulations
which have always been the disgrace of society,
and will never cease to occasion hatred, jealousy,
and contention, so long as they are allowed to
exist."

" The peace recommended in the text is not
the peace of tyranny and subjection, it is the
peace of equality and brotherhood. The despot
may hold in awe his trembling slaves, who may
quietly submit to his imperious commands ; but
the peace-maker, whom our text pronounces
blessed, will neither be found in him who orders
nor in those who obey. Let him, then, who
aims at the glorious distinction, begin by divest-
ing himself of his unjust pretensions, and re-
moving from himself the causes of offence ; let
him be as willing to impart as he is to receive ;
and when he has placed himself on a fair equality
with those around him, he will then have pro-
ceeded so far towards meriting the appellation
of a peace-maker, as not to be a maker of dis-
sensions. He will have attained, at least, a
degree of negative virtue that must, in its na-
ture, precede any positive acquirements. And
let me be allowed to remark, that it is on the
exercise of this disposition, that every noble and
generous effort, every expectation of public and
private happiness, depends. So much, then, for
the character of a peace-maker, as it is connected

LIFE OF Will MM HOSCOE. 501

with individual conduct; andjif the same justice
and forbearance were practised by a//, we should
arrive at that happy period when we should ex-
perience ' peace on earth, and good-will to men/
" But, alas! the admonitions of reason are too
ineffectual to control the passions of mankind,
by which they are continually prompted to seize
with avidity every opportunity of personal ag-
grandisement and selfish gratification. Here,
then, a wider field is opened for the exertions
of the virtuous and the just. And it is only in
performing their part with firmness, that they
can entitle themselves to the full reward that
attends on the promoters of peace, and the
friends of human kind. Raise, then, thy views,
thou who aspirest to this dignified character,
beyond the narrow limits of private life ; and
contemplate, as far as is allowed to mortal facul-
ties, the views and dispensations of Providence.
There wilt thou discover that the intention
of the great Creator of all, is the happiness of
all His creatures ; and thou wilt thence feel it
thy most important duty to concur, as far as
lies in thy power, in promoting that beneficent
end."

END OF TJIE FIRST VOLUME.

LONDON :

Printed by A. SPOTTISWOODE,

New- Street-Square.

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